


The Customer is Almost Always Wrong

by kiokushitaka



Series: The Customer is Almost Always Wrong [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Blow Jobs, Comedy, Couch Sex, Dirty Talk, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Making Out, Masturbation, POV First Person, Romance, Rough Sex, Slice of Life, Workplace Sex, make-up sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-28 07:56:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 52,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/989630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiokushitaka/pseuds/kiokushitaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren gets a job at a videogame store run by Erwin, Levi and Hanji. </p><p>This fic will probably change ratings as it goes along, just an fyi. Eventual Ereri/Riren, just in case it's not your cup of tea. Hints at other pairings will be present.</p><p>Rating now upped to Explicit because of chapter 9 (I told you it was a matter of time).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Hire Orientation

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying my hand at writing in Eren's POV, and I also am trying to take it slow with this fic so I'm sorry for that (no smut within the first three paragraphs, haha! Instead I give you PLOT and CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS). Knowing me, there will be some mature or explicit stuff later. Good things come to those who wait. I am really bad about writing multi-part things, but I'm determined to finish this one. That said, I have no idea how many chapters it will be. 
> 
> Characters have been aged so no one's underage (the game store I worked at didn't allow people under 18 to work).
> 
> Many of the customer conflicts in the fic will be based on true events, as I worked at a popular videogames retailer for 5 years.

“Yes. Okay, thanks! I’ll definitely be there. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., right? Alright, see you then.” I ended the call and relief swept over me. Finally, I had managed to get a job and the orientation was tomorrow. I had been sitting in the living room with my foster sister, Mikasa when the call came in and now that I was done, she looked at me expectantly.

“Well?”

“Orientation tomorrow… I’m hired!” I said, grinning. “It’s not the highest paying thing, but it’ll be a lot better than nothing.”

“Let’s hope it pays better than the unemployment checks.” She said, eyeing a stack of bills on the coffee table. I should probably backtrack a bit. My name is Eren Jaeger and I live with my foster sister, Mikasa Ackerman. Her parents died when we were nine (it’s a long story) so my family took her in. Two  years ago, my mom died of cancer; by the time she went to get checked out, it had advanced too far. A year later, my dad sort of went off the deep end in a bad way and, long story short, Mikasa and I had to run away. Luckily, we were already 18 and employed, so finding a low-income apartment wasn’t too hard.

Mikasa works at a local warehouse and often has long shifts and a lot of overtime that paid pretty well. I’d been working at a small mom n’ pop store that, unfortunately, got shut down by a national big-box chain. For the last three months, I’d been out of a job and we’d been struggling with the bills because of it. Living off of Mikasa’s income and the measly amount I got from unemployment was tough. I’d been applying everywhere I could think of, regardless of if they had a ‘now hiring’ sign posted.

And that sort of brings us up to speed. The interview tomorrow was for Game N’ Go, a videogame retailer. I’d been in a few times and was fairly excited at the prospect of getting discounts on things that actually interested me.

* * *

After an anxious night of barely any sleep, I was up and getting ready. I ate breakfast alone, Mikasa was already at work—she usually worked first shift, and had to be up before the sun even rose—so this wasn’t anything new. I hoped I wasn’t too overdressed, wearing a white button-down shirt and pleated khakis, but I figured it’d be better to be overdressed rather than underdressed. I had decided that a tie would have been too much, in any case. I finished up my bowl of Cheerios and put it in the sink with the other dirty dishes and went to the bathroom mirror to make sure I looked presentable, brushing my brown hair quickly with my fingers.

I grabbed a copy of my résumé, just in case (it’s always good to be prepared) and locked the apartment behind me. The store was fairly close to where we lived, so I opted to walk. Maybe later, I could get a bike if there was a place in the store for me to store it. The weather today wasn’t bad, but the air was beginning to get that crisp autumn nip to it, not that I was complaining. I made my way to the store in high spirits.

When I arrived, I was directed towards the back of the store by the manager, Erwin Smith. He ushered me past the door marked “employees only” and motioned at a group of chairs and told me to have a seat.

“You’re the first one here. There’s a mini-fridge over there,” he indicated to the left side of the back room, “grab a soda and make yourself comfortable.” I thanked him, and filed that information away for later. “We’ll get started as soon as everyone gets here, if it’s before 10.” He added. I glanced at my watch. Forty more minutes until then. Erwin walked back out to the sales floor and I started looking around.

There was a bathroom next to the fire exit, the mini-fridge under a table with a microwave on top of the same table. A sign on the microwave admonished against leaving a mess and it looked pretty clean for being a workplace set up. All around the room there were racks of games and accessories and strategy guides and I saw another door with a deadbolt on it that had a sign that read, “Keep This Door Locked.” Someone had written under it in permanent marker, “Or else the zombies will escape!” I hoped this was an indicator of a fun work environment.

Three other people arrived, a tall girl with long brown hair in a ponytail, a young looking guy with a buzz cut and a blond girl who had to have been the embodiment of the word ‘adorable.’ Erwin walked them in and another employee was with him this time, a short man with dark hair. His nametag read ‘Assistant Store Manager: Levi’ and he had a somewhat bored expression on his face. Something about this guy sparked my curiosity, but I couldn’t quite place it.

Erwin smiled at everyone and began his introductions.

“Thank you all for coming. Let’s get started by introducing ourselves. Tell us your names and your favorite game. I’m Erwin, the store manager and my favorite game is _Command and Conquer._ ” He motioned to the brown-haired girl, “Now you.”

“Good morning. I’m Sasha Braus and my favorite game is _Cooking Mama._ ” She said cheerily. Next was the boy with the buzz cut.

“My name is Connie Springer. It’s a girly name, I know… my favorite game series is _Tekken._ ” It was my turn.

“I’m Eren Jaeger and my favorite game is _Shadow of the Colossus_.” The most modern console we had at the moment was a _PlayStation2_ , after all. Eventually I wanted to get a _PlayStation3_.

“My name is Christa Renz,” said the blond girl in a voice that could only be described as lyrical, “And my favorite game is _Animal Crossing_.” Erwin looked at Levi expectantly, and the shorter man sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Assistant Manager, Levi. _Assassin’s Creed_.” He said curtly.

“Excellent.” Erwin smiled at everyone and got down to brass tacks, so to speak. We went over all the boring work things, like our tax forms and he helped anyone who didn’t understand how to fill it out. He gave us an overview of all the store policies, what games we did and didn’t take in, that some things weren’t covered by the returns policy, dress code… the whole nine yards. It dragged on for about an hour or so. A quick tour—I use the word loosely, because he basically just pointed at things—of the backroom enlightened us about the locked room; it was where the high-dollar merchandise was kept, such as consoles and special editions. He also said that there were a few other employees and one other supervisor that we’d eventually meet at the next staff meeting. At the end of the orientation, he handed each of us an envelope.

“These are your schedules. You’ll be training for a few days, but I’m confident that you’ll all catch on fast.”

The next few days, I learned a lot. I learned how to process trades, returns, and ring up customers. I learned how to use the point of sale, how to search for titles in the system, as much as they could cram into my training period. I met the other supervisor, a tall woman named Hanji with a strange sense of humor. I also met Marco and Jean, who’d been with the company for almost a year now. Jean liked to antagonize me for some reason, and anytime we worked together, it usually ended up with whoever else was there trying to calm us down. Given my hot headed nature, it was hard for me not to talk back to Jean, but I also didn’t want to compromise my job, so I did my best to control my temper around that horse-faced idiot.

The next week after closing, we had the employee meeting that Erwin had mentioned and I met the rest of the staff. Erwin introduced us to them, and we proceeded to watch one of the lamest training videos ever created. I’ll never understand why corporate thinks these videos that depict totally utopian situations that never happen in real life are effective. Customers aren’t always polite or clear; I’d only been working there for a week and I already knew this… though, Levi had made it a point to drill the thought into my head whenever we worked together. After the video, Erwin handed out some sodas and gestured to a container of cookies in a ‘help yourselves’ kind of way. Several of us got up, myself included, and grabbed a few.

“According to the materials that came with that video, we’re supposed to role play scenarios on dealing with customers. Who would like to volunteer to play the role of the customer?” no one raised their hand, and Erwin raised a thick eyebrow, “Don’t all raise your hands at once…” he muttered.

“I guess I can do it.” A tan girl who’d been introduced earlier as Ymir said. “I’ll be the customer if Christa will be the associate.” She grinned. Erwin shrugged in an I-don’t-see-why-not sort of way, and Ymir glanced at Christa, who shrugged back and stood.

“Ok, action.” Erwin said and the two began to play out a scene where Ymir was a disgruntled customer (though she couldn’t help but smile at Christa a lot and I was pretty sure she at least had a crush on the petite blond. Christa stood behind the counter as Ymir walked up with an empty game case in hand.

“Hey, I bought this game a few days ago and it sucks!” Ymir said, putting the case down on the counter. “Give me my money back!”

“I’d love to help you, but I’m going to need to see your receipt.” Christa said sweetly. I could have sworn Ymir was blushing.

“Yeah sure no prob. Here it is.” She places a scrap of paper on the counter.

“I’m sorry to inform you that you bought this game new, and since you’ve opened it, we cannot return it as new.” Christa said, looking sad. “If you had bought it used, we could have given you a full refund.”

“Are you saying I can’t get my money back? But the game is awful!” Ymir mocked anger; well, as much as one could while smirking.

“Oh no you can trade it in, but it’ll only be worth…” she pretended to search for it in the system, “about $20 in store credit or $15 cash.”

“I paid $60 for that game!”

“Ah, well I’ll have to ask the manager, but we may be able to do something else.” Christa looked at Erwin and he nodded, giving her the okay. “I can return it as a used copy and you can get $55 back, if that’s okay. It’s the best I can do given the circumstances.”

“I suppose it’s okay.”

Erwin seemed pleased with their scene and asked us simple questions about how the scene played out, how it was handled, if it was handled correctly.  The meeting ended shortly after that, and we just stood around and talked to each other. A blond haired man came up to me and sniffed the air around me, to which I just kind of stared.

“Uh, hi? I’m Eren…” I said.

“Mike Zakarius. Don’t mind me, it’s just something I do.” He explained, “How are you liking the job so far?”

“It’s alright. I get along with almost everyone except that horse—I mean Jean.” Mike laughed at my slip up, and a strawberry blond girl walked up to us.

“You must be Eren.” She said, “I’m Petra Ral.” She offered me a hand to shake, so I obliged.

“Ah, yeah. It’s nice to meet you.”

“If you have any questions, Mike and I have been working here for quite a while. Actually, Levi helped us get these jobs.”

“You’re friends with him? I’m kind of surprised he has any.” I blurted out, and immediately blushed, “Sorry! That was mean. I didn’t mean it like that, I just—”

“It’s okay.” Mike laughed. “He gives off that impression.”

“He’s actually a really good person, once you get to know him.” Petra added. I wondered if she had a crush on Levi, her eyes lit up ever so slightly when she was talking about him. “I mean, he’s not the perfect sales employee, but when he gets down to it, he’ll definitely get things done.”

“Changing the subject, but what console do you have?” Mike asked.

“I… well, I only have a _PS2_ right now, but I am saving up for a _3._ ” I said, “I want to play online and stuff and since that one has free online, it’s the best value for me.”

“That’ll be perfect, we all pretty much either have _PS3s_ or at least access to one. Let me know when you get it, so we can exchange _PSN_ information.” He patted me on the back and wandered off towards Connie and Sasha, who seemed to be hitting it off pretty well with Marco.

“I look forward to working with you, Eren.” Petra gave me a smile, and walked off towards Levi and Erwin. Yeah, I’m pretty sure she likes Levi. Hanji was on her way over to me, smiling brightly.

“So Eren, enjoying our little meeting?” She asked, draping an arm around my shoulders.

“Yeah, it’s fun, I guess. The cookies were really good.”

“Would you believe Levi made those? He’d make such a good housewife!” There she went with her jokes. I about choked as the mental image of Levi in a flowery apron appeared in my head. “He’s such a neat freak and he bakes… perfect housewife material.” She laughed, and while I was looking over at the shorter man, our eyes met and I felt my chest get tight. I averted my eyes impulsively.

“Hanji, stop telling the brat weird things about me.” Levi called over to her, “I can hear your stupidity all the way over here.”


	2. Always Keep Your Receipt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first real customer conflict, and yes it's based on true events. Eren admits... things. Read to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to up the rating to T for language and Hanji.

Work was going along smoothly. I found I was decent at selling add-ons and preorders, but subscriptions to our partner magazine were much more difficult. Many people didn’t see the point in spending $15 a year to save a small percentage, especially since those savings were limited to used games and accessories. Things were getting better for me and Mikasa. Twenty hours a week didn’t pay as much as her usual forty or more, but I was helping out and I was getting more than the unemployment office had allotted me. More importantly, I felt like I was making new connections and friends, something I hadn’t really had since we had to drop out from high school when mom was diagnosed to take care of her.

Over dinner, Mikasa and I would chat about our days. Today, I’d had to work with Marco and Levi and that hadn’t been terribly eventful.

“Today wasn’t too bad, Levi made me alphabetize the shelves in the morning and do price changes while I was at it. Pretty boring stuff, actually.”

“Well, it’s something, at least.” Mikasa responded, taking a sip of water.

 “This blond guy with a bowl cut came in today and we talked for about an hour about _Pokémon._ ” I added. “He gave me his name so I could add him on Facebook, he seemed like a pretty nice guy… Armin Arlelt.” Marco had mentioned that he was a regular, so it was nice to know that I’d probably get to talk to him again. “How was your day?”

“Repetitive and hot.” Mikasa shrugged, “It can’t be legal to make people work in these big warehouses with no air conditioning, but I’ll live. At least it’s started to get cool again… but there aren’t heaters either, so it’ll just be the other extreme for a few months.”

“That blows.” I sympathized. “At least you won’t have to deal with holiday shoppers. Hanji’s told me about it some, and when she tells you about it it’s almost like she’s having _war flashbacks._ ” I wasn’t looking forward to the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers.

* * *

The next day at work, it was me, Levi and Ymir. The day was dragging along and we’d been set with the task of organizing the _PS2_ bins, which always took forever. At least it was something to do. Levi eventually announced that he’d be stepping outside while it was slow to take a smoke break and headed to the backroom to open the fire exit; the store had a policy that no employees were to smoke in front of the store, so this was the solution. It wasn’t long until I heard the door chime that signaled a customer entering, so I turned and offered my greeting to the woman that had just entered.

“Thanks for choosing Game N’ Go. Can I help you find something?” I walked behind the counter.

“No, I need a refund.” She placed a rather battle-worn looking copy of _Imagine Party Babyz_ for the _Wii_ down on the counter. “The game doesn’t work.” I picked it up and opened the case, which appeared to have been trampled by an elephant. The disc inside had a hairline crack in it.

“I’ll need to see your receipt,” I informed her, because if she hadn’t purchased a warranty, there was little I could do. That was when the tirade began.

“I don’t have one. I lost it, but I bought this game here. It doesn’t work, so give me my money back.”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but if I can’t verify the purchase date with the system—”

“Are you trying to say that I _stole_ it?” She was getting indignant.

“No! Not at all, it’s just that the way the system is set up, I can’t return anything without a receipt.” I forced a smile, “I’m really sorry about it.”

“No you’re not. You’re a crook. My kids can’t even play this game because it doesn’t work.” Given the game, I’m pretty sure they weren’t missing out; party babies? _Seriously?_

“I just have to follow the policy, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” I said, still with the forced smile.

“Well, let me talk to the manager. You’re useless. I’m sure the manager will see the issue a lot better than you.” She insisted, crossing her arms. Considering Levi was the manager-on-duty, this would be interesting.

“Of course. I’ll see if I can find him, he’s on break so it may be a while.”

“I don’t have all day.” She said testily. I walked into the back room and saw that the fire exit door was propped open with a cinderblock, the familiar smell of cigarettes wafting in with the wind. Yeah, he wasn’t going to cut his smoke break short for some unruly customer, I already knew it. Still, I didn’t want to be accused of not trying. I eased the door open and leaned out. He was leaning against the back of the building, staring off in the direction of the drainage pond.

“Uh, Levi? There’s a problem with a customer. She wants to speak with a manager…” I informed him. He took a drag on the cigarette and exhaled smoke with a sigh.

“She’ll have to wait; I have fifteen more minutes on my break.” He said. I had figured as much; she was not going to be happy.

“Okay, I’ll let her know.”

“Tell her I’m not even here right now. They don’t know we’re not supposed to leave you brats alone.” That was probably true. I walked back out to the sales floor and put my fake smile back on.

“Ma’am, I’m really sorry, but it seems the manager has stepped out for lunch. I assure you, he should be back shortly. I’m really sorry about the inconvenience.” I bowed my head slightly for good measure, in an attempt to look like I genuinely cared.

“Fine, then. I’ll wait, but after this experience, you better believe I’m never shopping here again.” She said. _Good, we don’t need customers like you anyway._ I thought bitterly, while maintaining my apologetic look.

“Thank you so much for understanding.” What I really wanted to do was to punch her. Or shake her until she understood why her demands were so unreasonable. I wanted to lecture her about why our store policies were in place and I wanted to kick her at the same time. Keeping my anger in check was hard when people like her came in to ruin my day. It was like bad customers just woke up with the intent to shit all over everyone else they could find and I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand what would possess a person to treat others so rudely for no reason; I hadn’t said anything mean to her, I wasn’t being unreasonable.

Fifteen minutes seemed to take hours with that woman boring holes into my back while I took care of some trades. The front door chimed and looked to welcome whoever it had been to see that Levi had actually circled the building and walked in the front door just to make my little white lie seem true.

“Ah, Levi, I need your assistance.” I called out, “This customer would like to speak with you.” I motioned to the woman, who had been waiting the entire time next to the register.

“What seems to be the problem?” He asked.

“Well, first of all, I had to wait a really long time for you to get here, and you should just train your employees better because he,” she pointed at me, “wouldn’t give me my money back for this game that doesn’t even work.” Levi noticed and picked up the tattered box and, just as I had done, opened it and inspected the game.

“Well, of course it doesn’t work. It’s cracked.” He said, “Do you have a receipt?”

“No, I lost it, can’t you look it up in your computer?” she was getting exasperated. Levi, on the other hand, had the same bored expression the whole time. I had a feeling that this was bothering her as well.

“No. Listen, what I _can_ do is return it as defective, but if I do that all I can give you is a replacement.”

“I want my money back—”

“ _Technically_ , I’m not even supposed to do that much. I’m saying, I can _at least_ give you a game that _does_ work. If you’d had a receipt, maybe I could have given you a refund, but without one, all I can offer you is either store credit for what the used copy of this game is worth or a replacement. Store credit—” He leaned over and searched in the system, “Would be about $10. I can put it on a gift card if you’re in a hurry.”

“You’re telling me that I paid $30 for that game and you can only give me a $10 gift card?!” she yelled. “You people are thieves!”

“If you had kept your receipt,” Levi said calmly, “Then I wouldn’t have to go by the item’s current price. It’s been out for a while now and the price has dropped because it wasn’t a very popular title. I’m sorry, but this is all I can do for you.” In the end, the woman took the replacement copy—no doubt to try to return it somewhere else. She left the store in a huff and Levi finished processing the defective exchange. There was no one in the store after that, so I let out the exasperated sigh I’d been holding in.

“Ugh, what a… a cunt.”

“Oh, brats use that kind of language now?” Levi replied. I could hear the sneer in his voice.

“Oh, c’mon! There’s no other way to describe a customer like that!” I argued. Ymir was snickering to herself, and I wondered if it was at my expense.

“Unruly, obstinate, rude, stubborn, ungrateful… do I need to go on?”

“Okay I get it, but you have to give me this; it’s more satisfying to say cunt or twat or even bitch than those other words.”

“Yeah, I can give you that. It’s just fun to mess with you.”

* * *

A few days later, it was me, Jean and Hanji. I’m beginning to think Jean just likes to mess with me, but it’s still really hard to ignore him. I’m also pretty sure that Jean and Marco are dating, because even when he’s off, Marco usually comes in the store during Jean’s shifts to talk to him and vice-versa. It doesn’t bother me at all; I wish I had someone, to be completely honest.

“Would you look at those two?” Hanji said wistfully. “Young love, huh?” Well, that pretty much just confirmed my suspicions… if Hanji was to be believed, that is. I wasn’t sure how much of what she said was true when it came to water cooler gossip, so to speak.

“Yeah, must be nice.” I replied, leaning on the back counter.

“We’re not supposed to have workplace relationships, but Erwin’s actually surprisingly lax on that.” Hanji mentioned. “It probably has to do with the fact that we’ve all dated each other in the past.”

“You all who?” I asked without thinking. “Ah, sorry. That’s probably none of my business.”

“It doesn’t bother me.” She said, “Why, I’ve dated both Erwin and Levi and Erwin once told me that he and Levi even had a thing at some point. Not at the same time, mind you, though I’m sure that threesome would have been _awesome._ ” So, Levi was at the very least bisexual. Wait, why was that the information I took out of that?

“Oh, wow. I’m surprised you all get along so well.”

“The break ups were mutual.” Hanji shrugged, “But I certainly do miss the sex.” I felt my face getting warm, this was starting to tread into ‘too much information’ territory and Hanji noticed. “Sorry! I didn’t realize that your virgin ears couldn’t handle my reminiscing!” she laughed.

“I’m not—” I burst out, to which both Marco and Jean looked up at me, curious about my sudden raised voice. I swallowed and hoped the blush wasn’t too obvious, Hanji was having way too much fun tormenting me. “I’m not that innocent.” I said quietly. Marco and Jean went back to their conversation, which from what I could gather, was about getting food after work.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” She winked. I felt like my face was going to spontaneously combust. I excused myself and went to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. I looked at myself in the mirror and straightened my hair. Why was I so bothered? Okay, so I’d never actually had a relationship, so what? It’s not like I was ignorant to what happened in them. Though, now I was curious as to what caused them to break up. I imagined Hanji’s personality clashed with Levi’s, and it was actually pretty surprising that they even dated in the first place… on the other hand, Erwin and Levi together didn’t seem as out of place. Why was I thinking about this? I sighed and shook my head. This wasn’t important, why did I even care so much? Was it because he was so mysterious? Why was I so concerned with uncovering information about the assistant store manager? I mean, yeah he was attractive. So was Erwin and Hanji and, hell, everyone at this store was actually pretty attractive or cute. I’d known for a while now that I was bisexual, so finding out that my bosses might also be was something of a reassurance. I just had to try to figure out my feelings.

Was I crushing? Did I get a twinkle in my eyes when I spoke about him like Petra did? God, I hoped not. The last thing I needed was to give Jean even more fuel to make fun of me with. When I no longer felt like my face was on fire, I returned to the sales floor. The shift finished uneventfully after that, and I walked home, my thoughts keeping me company. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Hanji had said, about the times I worked with Levi, how my heart would sometimes flutter at the thought of working _with_ him. If anyone asked, I usually just said I admired him, because he was good at his job, but now I was really giving it some thought.

I was pretty sure I was starting to fall for him, and I didn’t even really know anything about him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe one day I can write a chapter that's longer than 5 pages in Word. Today is not that day.


	3. Disgusting Drunks and How to Handle Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of Eren being an insecure little shit; some drunken jerk tries to hit on Christa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I get lazy and make Levi’s last name “Heichou.” Shh. It just sounds right and gives me the excuse to give him the PSN ID that I did (which is a reference to kuueater/shinigamieater's hilarious SNK shorts). 
> 
> FYI, the sandwich Eren makes is delicious and you shouldn’t knock it unless you’ve tried it. ✿◠‿◠
> 
> I'd also like to take this moment to send a huge shout out to my beta-reader J.R. Henry, who doesn't have an account here, but has been a huge help. Thanks, dude. You're the best.

It’s been a month since I’ve started working at Game N’ Go. I was off today, spending most of my time chatting with people online. Just a few more weeks’ pay and I could probably buy one of the used _PS3s_ we sold. I was getting excited to possibly be able to participate in some online gaming with my coworkers. I wondered what games they’d want to play and what their online handles were. Besides Armin, the regular customer, I’d also added Hanji, Petra and Mike to my Facebook friends. This was how I learned Levi’s last name, because they all had him added too. It looked Japanese, like Mikasa’s name; Mikasa’s mom had been Japanese. I wondered if this was also true for Levi, as he didn’t look terribly Asian, but it could explain his short stature, I thought. When I saw it for the first time, I wondered how to pronounce it. _Heechoo? Heychoo?_

Levi Heichou. I gulped, staring at my computer screen at his name and decided to request friendship. The worst that could happen was he’d reject it, right? I went to his page, which was—unsurprisingly—private and clicked on the request button. There went nothing. I waited for a few minutes and wanted to kick myself, _He’s probably not even online right now. Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!_ I needed to get away from the computer for a while, so I wandered into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich; I was in the mood for peanut butter and turkey. I decided to make two sandwiches and grab a soda from the fridge before heading over to the couch and turning on the TV. Being that it was lunchtime, my viewing options were limited to talk shows, court shows and soap operas, so I settled for Judge Judy to pass the time. I figured it was the lesser evil. I ate my lunch as the woman on the TV argued with Judy about how she deserved this or that, I wasn’t really paying attention because my mind was still stuck on the fact that I’d sent a friend request to the guy I was kind of, sort of falling for.

Would he accept? Did I want him to? What if he did accept and found out what a huge loser I am? Thoughts like this circled my mind and I was getting really annoyed with my brain for it. I just wanted to eat something in peace, but here Levi was, invading my thoughts. Yeah, I had to be crushing or something; why else would I be thinking this stuff? Maybe I just really wanted him to think I was cool… but deep down, I knew that wasn’t all there was to it.  I finished my lunch and went back to my computer, and noticed I had a notification, so I clicked it. Levi had _accepted_ my friend request. I almost dropped my soda from the shock. On the one hand, I was happy about this because I could get to know him better, but on the other hand… what if he didn’t like things I posted? I couldn’t help myself, though. I went to his profile, but was a little disappointed to find that it was about as bare as the private version had been. I suppose I should have guessed, he didn’t seem the type to just give personal information out to a site like that, especially with their shady privacy track record.

I waffled for a few moments on whether or not to send him a message in some attempt to break the ice and eventually settled on a simple greeting. I wasn’t sure if I expected a response or what, but the red notification symbol somewhat startled me.

_**Levi Heichou: Did you want something, brat?** _

I wanted to ask him why he accepted, if he wanted to be friends or what. I wanted to find out how to pronounce his name. I wanted to just talk about random shit with him and get to know him and maybe, one day, spend time with him outside of work. I wanted to go catch a movie with him and talk about it afterwards over donuts.

_**Eren Jaeger: Nothing, just wondering how things were going for you.** _

**_Levi Heichou: Fucking boring enough for me to be able to have this lame ass conversation with you._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Oh thanks. Btw, I’m probably going to be getting a PS3 soon and am getting everyone’s PSN names, what’s yours, if you have one?_ **

_**Levi Heichou: DontHeichouMe.** _

Well, that was a start.

* * *

The next time I worked, it was with Levi and Connie. Levi didn’t seem terribly pleased to be stuck with two newbies, but then again, he never seemed pleased about anything. He had me on trade processing and Connie on price changes; it was the middle of the week and school was still in session, so it was relatively slow. We’d had about three customers so far, and my shift was halfway over.

“I’m taking a break.” Levi informed us as he stepped into the backroom, “Don’t bother me unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’d like to take a shit in peace.”

“TMI, dude.” Connie muttered, and I snickered… until I noticed Levi giving us a glare before the door closed. “Did he just give us the stink-eye?” Connie asked.

“Pretty much?” I answered, “He’s kind of hard to get along with.”

“You’re telling me. He’s always such a hard ass. I bet he just needs to get laid.” For _some reason_ , this statement made me blush, so I turned back to the stack of trades to avoid letting Connie see.

“Probably.” I agreed. I tried not to give it too much thought. “Ah, Connie before I forget; what systems do you have? I’m thinking about getting a used _PS3_ so maybe we’ll be able to play together.”

“Oh yeah? I’ve got ‘em all. My _PSN_ handle is dumb, so I’ll write it down for you.” He fed some paper out of the receipt printer and wrote _b4ldb4d4ss_ on it. “I made it when I was like 12… and I’m just too lazy to get a different one.”

“Hey man, no judgment.” I said with a half shrug. At that moment, three customers walked in: a tall guy with black hair, a burly blond guy and a blond girl in a white hoodie. Connie and I looked up to greet them and Connie hurried over to them and started talking to them while I finished up with the trades. Finally, the counter was clean and organized; I leaned back on it and watched Connie talk to the three customers about the pros and cons of getting used stuff.

“Brat, don’t lean on the counter.” Levi startled me and I let out a small cry.

“S-sorry!” I stood up straight, almost at attention. I didn’t have the nerve to look over at him so I just looked at the ground.

“Stop acting like a dog that shit in the house.” I heard him mutter under his breath. He cleared his throat a bit and added, “I see you finished the trades, go and alphabetize the _Xbox 360_ wall.”

* * *

By the next pay check, I was finally able to get that _PS3_ I’d been pining for. I’d talked about it with Mikasa and made sure we could afford our bills and such and she said we were good, so I decided to pick up a copy of the latest _Call of Duty_ with it as well.  When I got home and had it connected to the TV, I stared at the name select screen for a while trying to think of a good _PSN_ identity and finally settled for _jaegermeister19_. It’d been my nickname back in high school, so I figured why not? I sent requests to Levi and Connie, and made it a point to get more of my coworkers’ information so I could add them as well. I started playing _COD_ and rapidly found out that I was pretty awful at first person shooters. It was so much harder when you couldn’t see the surroundings around the character.

After the fifteenth time I’d been killed, I decided it was time to give it a rest and decided to explore the other features of my system. While I was poking around, I received a response to one of my requests; it was Levi.

_**DontHeichouMe: Really? jaegermeister19? That is about the lamest shit I’ve ever seen.** _

I decided to play it cool.

_**jaegermeister19: like dontheichoume is any better** _

_**DontHeichouMe: It’s a million times better than your lame ass name.** _

I was actually enjoying this conversation. Even though I knew better, I imagined he was smirking the whole time. Part of me was pretending that he was flirting with me, though I chose to shove that part of me deep into the back of my mind.

_**jaegermeister19: is that all you wanted to tell me? that my name sucks?** _

_**DontHeichouMe: Nah son. Your kill count also sucks.** _

_**jaegermeister19: gee thx**_

I was smiling despite myself. He was paying attention to me. I felt like we were bonding.

_**DontHeichouMe: Did you get a Bluetooth? Typing on this thing is annoying as shit.** _

_**jaegermeister19: couldnt afford it yet sorry** _

_**DontHeichouMe: Whenever we work together again, I’ll give you my spare. It’s not like I need two of them anyway.** _

_**jaegermeister19: wow rly you dont have to  
** _

_**DontHeichouMe: Omg stop being such a shitstain I’m just getting rid of something I don’t even use.** _

_**jaegermeister19: im just surprised that youd be nice** _

_**DontHeichouMe: If you’re gonna be like that, I’ll just give it to someone more deserving.** _

_**jaegermeister19: what no ill take it im just surprised youd offer to give me anything thats all** _

_**DontHeichouMe: Calm down, brat. I was just busting your balls. Still, typing is annoying as fuck. We’ll talk more when I give you the Bluetooth.** _

* * *

Just as he’d promised, the next time we worked, he gave me the Bluetooth.

“Don’t worry, I sanitized it.” He said simply as he handed it to me.

“No but really, thank you.”

“It’s better to give it away, it’s not worth much to trade it in.” He shrugged. “Don’t think anything of it.” I knew what that meant, but I couldn’t help but think that that’d be impossible. It had been a gift, from him. I felt like a giddy school girl, and it was pretty embarrassing. I’d already come to terms with the fact that I had it for him and it was getting bad.

Today it’d be me, Levi and Christa. Some time through the shift, Ymir came into the store to hit on Christa shamelessly, though I’m pretty sure Christa had no idea. She was a sweet girl, if a little dense. I’d look at them from time to time out of amusement while I did whatever mindless tasks Levi asked me to do, from helping him prepare a display to counting how many copies we had of this or that title. I half wished that I had Ymir’s confidence, but I imagined it was a lot easier to hit on someone like Christa than it would have been Levi. It was around that time that a customer came in, so I went out to the sales floor to help him.

“Welcome to Game N’ Go, can I help you find anything?”

“I’m just looking, thanks.” He smelled a little of alcohol, but I didn’t think anything of it and I took that as my cue to head back over to the counter and get back to printing case art. Levi informed me that he’d be taking his smoke break and would be out back if we needed anything and I nodded to let him know I’d heard him. I busied myself with trying to get all the case art done for the games that had been traded without cases. Ymir was leaning on the counter near Christa, but the flirting had stopped for the time being.

“Hey sweetie, do you like to play videogames?” I heard the customer say to Christa. I looked over to see Ymir staring at the man, who was oblivious to her death glare.

“Yes, I really like _The_ _Legend of Zelda_ and _Animal Crossing_.” She said. He continued to spout sexist comment after sexist comment to the poor girl and Christa, of course, was trying to be polite the entire time.

“You got a boyfriend? I’ve always wanted a girlfriend who played games.” Okay, now he was getting really creepy. I inched over to them in case she needed me, but apparently Ymir had also decided that she’d heard enough.

“Listen, creep. She’s not interested, so leave her alone.” She said, her tone dangerous. “I suggest you pick whatever you came here to get and get lost.”

“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?” the guy sneered, “Get back to the kitchen and make me a sandwich, bitch.”

“Oh? I think I see why you’re single.” Ymir scoffed. “You wanna take this outside? I’ve got no qualms with kicking the asses of creeps like _you_.”

“Ymir, don’t—” Christa tried. It was at that moment that Levi returned from his break. He watched the situation for a moment and realized what had been going on.

“You wanna go, little girl?  I’ll teach you to challenge a man.” The man said in response to Ymir’s threat. Levi cleared his throat noisily, stepping in before Ymir did anything the man would later regret.

“Is there something I can help you with, sir?”

“Yeah, tell this dyke to mind her own business.” He replied, pointing to Ymir, who gritted her teeth.

“I wasn’t aware that there was a levee inside our store, nor that it was sentient.” Levi said sarcastically, “But if I see it, I’ll be sure to tell it.” I had to try really hard not to burst out laughing. “From what I can tell, you’re being rather rude to my associates, and I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” He fixed the man with a look so caustic that the man acquiesced and left. As soon as he was gone, Levi turned to Christa and Ymir.

“Next time something like that happens, let me know. I’m sure that he would have deserved the ass kicking, Ymir, but I can’t have you threatening customers even if you’re not on the clock.”

“Yeah, sorry about that Levi… he was just so disgusting.”

“Drunks usually are. Are you okay, Christa? If that ever happens again, feel free to pretend you need to go into the back room for a while and someone else will deal with pieces of shit like him.”

“Yes, sir, Levi.” Christa said softly.

“Listen, I’m not mad at you, okay?” Levi’s expression was actually the softest I’d ever seen it. “I want you to be safe out here. And Eren, why didn’t you come get me?” That startled me and I felt my ears burning up.

“S-sorry! I didn’t want to leave them alone..!”

“When that happens, be sure to inform the supervisor if they’re doing something else. Jeez.” He gave me a look that said _what will I ever do with you_.

“Yes, sir.”

“You do realize you don’t need to be so formal, right?” He scratched the back of his neck and I knew my face was red again. I was probably making him feel old even though I was pretty sure he was at least a few years older than me. That’s when it hit me that I had no idea just how old he was. I figured he had to be at least twenty-something. Maybe twenty-four; he didn’t look that old. Maybe I’d ask Hanji about this later, she seemed a lot more forthcoming when it came to this kind of stuff.

* * *

As planned, the next time I worked with Hanji, I waited for a lull and asked her.

“Would you believe that he’s _twenty-nine_?” she said and I knew I was probably staring. “It’s true! I’ve known him and Erwin for a while, we met in college, actually.” My heart actually sank a little. He was ten years older than me. Would he even be interested in someone as young as me? I didn’t want to think about it too much. I shook my head, as if that would disperse the thoughts.

“He looks so young.” I said absently, “I could have sworn he wasn’t older than twenty-five.”

“Ugh, yeah. That asshole probably has access to the fountain of youth or something… though I’m sure it also has to do with his height.” She joked. “Anyway, why’re you curious?”

“No reason, I just wanted to know and since he doesn’t have any information on his Facebook…” I kind of just trailed off and she nodded.

“I get you.” Hanji then changed the subject. “So, you’ve been here a while now, huh Eren? How’re you liking it so far?”

“It’s work.” I said, “Oh! I did buy a _PS3_. Wanna trade _PSN_ IDs?” I got some receipt paper and tore it in half, wrote mine on one half and she wrote _MadScientistZoe_ on the other half.

“That’s a lot more creative than mine.” I commented.

“Let me tell you the story behind it!” Hanji exclaimed, and I just kind of stood there while she talked at me about it for the next twenty minutes. Apparently, she’d gone to college as a biology major—and had even graduated with a degree in zoology—but her real passion was cryptozoology and there really weren’t a lot of… legitimate jobs for that, so here she was. “It all started when I was eight; I’d gone camping with my dad and _I saw bigfoot—_ ” Thankfully, some customers came into the store before she could finish her life story and I excused myself and all but ran over to them to start my spiel.


	4. Trashtalk and Ex-Boyfriends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren plays Black Ops 2 with Levi and Erwin, Petra and Auruo have a chat. Also, there's gonna be a part-ay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably point out that I’ve never actually played any COD games (I’m worse than Eren when it comes to FPS games). Parts of this chapter relied heavily on my beta-reader, J.R. Henry who wrote up all kinds of notes for me on COD:BO2 online multiplayer, his favorite maps and being around to answer any questions I had. THANKS, J.R.! YOU’RE THE BEST.

I felt like I was finally getting better at playing _Call of Duty: Black Ops 2._ I was, at the very least, able to get past the story missions fairly well. That had to account for something, right? Even if practically everyone who bought this game bought it for the online multiplayer. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to dive into that just yet, at least not on my own. It was a Wednesday night, and seemingly as if answering my unspoken wish, I got a request from Levi to join his party with _CommanderErwin_. Well, at least I didn’t have to ask who _that_ was. I turned on my Bluetooth and accepted.

“Just an fyi, I’m not very good at this game.”

“Yeah, I know. I can see your stats, brat. Erwin and I just figured we’d help train you a bit.” Levi’s voice came through the speaker in my ear and I involuntarily shivered. I hoped there wasn’t any tell that that had happened… I swallowed and focused my mind on the game. Levi was just talking to me on the headset. It was like talking on a phone. Why did I have to take everything so out of context? It was just a normal conversation, he wasn’t whispering sweet nothings; quite the opposite, really. _Though, I suppose with Levi, that’s as close as you get._

“Evening, Eren.” I heard Erwin’s voice as well, and didn’t have a reaction. Having a crush is the most annoying thing, sometimes.

“Erwin, Eren… let’s get this show on the road.” Levi urged, “Let’s do _Hijacked._ It’s a smaller map, so maybe our resident noob won’t get fucking lost in three seconds.”

“Sounds good to me.” Erwin said.

“I resent that remark…” I muttered.

“Son, when you aren’t a disappointment… _maybe_ then you can talk back. Until then, if I want any lip from you, I’ll jiggle my zipper.” Levi retorted, and I thanked whatever gods were out there that they couldn’t see how red my face was. Levi was going to be the end of me, and I knew it.

“Let’s do TDM.” Erwin added, to which Levi simply made a sound of agreement.

“I know this is baby’s first online match, but wanna do Hardcore for shiggles?” Levi asked. I shrugged and then realized that they couldn’t see me, so I made the universal sound for ‘I don’t care.’ 

“All right, let’s DO this.” Levi announced.

The match began and, contrary to Levi’s belief, I _didn’t_ get lost in three seconds. I did, however, get killed.

“Goddamnit, Eren. The point is _not_ to get shot. What are you even doing?”

“Sorry! I’m still not used to first person…” I replied.

“Watch out for campers when you re-spawn.” Erwin said helpfully, “Levi, cover me.” I was kind of impressed at how they worked so well together. It’s like they were actually soldiers or something, they used the terms and everything… meanwhile, I fumbled around and, in a panic, shot the first thing that moved…

…Which happened to be Levi.

“EREN, YOU TEAM KILLING MOTHERFUCKER.” Levi bellowed into his mic and I winced. Even though I knew it was just how people got with these sorts of games, it was still the first time Levi had ever yelled at me.

“Eren… who do you think the enemy is?” Erwin said calmly while Levi continued to spout vulgarities while he waited to re-spawn.

“Huh? I’m sorry, I just—”

“Don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it.” Erwin reassured me, “But try not to do it again.” We played a few more maps and even tried different modes, but Levi at least turned Hardcore and friendly fire off so there wouldn’t be any more mishaps, muttering something about how that had been a ‘fucking stupid idea.’ We tried _Nuketown_ and _Mirage_ and I actually started to improve simply by following Erwin’s advice and strategies. I couldn’t help but think that _CommanderErwin_ was an extremely apt _PSN_ ID for him; he was some sort of military game genius… and Levi had some amazing reflexes. The only reason I even did decently in _Kill Confirm_ was because of his assists. We played for a couple of hours and eventually Erwin announced that he had to open in the morning, so he’d be heading off to bed before it got too late. He logged off and it was just me and Levi and my suddenly rapid heartbeat.

“Hey brat, sorry about my temper.” I heard Levi say quietly.

“Dude, don’t worry about it.” I tried to act cool, despite my stupid thoughts of how it was just me and him and _anything_ could happen; seriously, why did I have to think such embarrassing things?

“I just hate my temper. It reminds me of someone I’d rather never think about.” He said cryptically. I decided not to push him; he’d probably tell me if he wanted to. I was sure this was the smartest decision I’d made all night.

“Thanks for putting up with my shitty playing.” I said, hoping to lift the mood that had settled over our chat, and it seemed to work.

“Oh my fucking god, don’t even get me started on how shitty you are.” I could hear amusement in his voice, which was a good sign. “If it were possible to hold the gun fucking backwards and shoot yourself, you’d fucking do that shit.”

“Oh, c’mon. I’m not _that_ incompetent. I know which end the bullets come out of!” I feigned indignation. “But no seriously thanks for playing with me, I had fun.”

“Yeah, it was pretty fun.”

* * *

The next time I worked, it was with Erwin and Petra. Erwin completely surprised me and gave me a thumb drive that he said had notes and strategies to help me get better at playing _Call of Duty: Black Ops 2_ online. I seriously couldn’t believe this guy… he put work and effort into something like this?

“I—wow. Thank you, I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s not a big deal. I actually like strategizing, so I did this more for fun than anything.” Erwin replied, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe it’ll come in handy so you don’t accidentally kill Levi the next time we try _Hardcore Death Match_.” He smiled.

The rest of the shift carried on rather uneventfully until about lunch. I saw a forest green Escalade drive by and park in front of the store, and it also seemed that Petra had tensed up a little.

“Are you okay?” I asked in a low whisper, “Do I need to get Erwin?” Erwin had gone to the backroom to do inventory, which would probably take him a little over an hour, he’d said.

“I’ll be okay. It’s just my ex… he’s kind of a huge douche.” Petra sighed.

“Well, if you need me to, just motion towards the back under the counter and I’ll get Erwin.” I said, remembering Levi’s admonishment from the last time a customer harassed an employee. Petra nodded, and busied herself with some trades so she’d have her back to the door when three men walked into the store.

“I had a feeling that was your Prius out there, Petra.” The one in the middle said, without so much as a greeting. He had short dirty blond, almost brown hair and looked like he was in his thirties, or even early forties; I’d later find out that he was in fact in his mid twenties. One of the men with him had short black hair and thin eyebrows, but a somewhat friendlier looking face and the other had his hair up in a kind of bun. They both looked like they didn’t really want to be there. Petra turned, and when I glanced at her face, I noticed she didn’t have fear in her eyes at all... instead, she looked condescending? I wasn’t sure how to describe the gleam in her eyes.

“I’m surprised that brain of yours even works anymore, Auruo.” She scoffed. “Hello, Gunther, Erd; did he drag you two into coming here to bother me?” she looked apologetic to them and I surmised that ‘Auruo’ must therefore be the aforementioned ex. Seeing as Petra had a decent handle on the situation, I relaxed a bit and attempted to look busy while listening in on the conversation.

“Tch. Maybe if you were my wife, I’d let you get away with saying things like that.” He made a face.

“Ha! Me? _Your_ wife? _Please_.” I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but this tone from the usually kind and helpful Petra was something of a pleasant surprise. Then again, with a jerk like this Auruo guy seemed to be… I didn’t exactly blame her. “I could do _so much_ better.”

“Listen here, you snarky little bitch! Is this how you treat a customer!?” He spat.

“Oh, you’re here to buy something and not just stand there saying stupid things?” Petra put her hands up, making a ‘wait up’ kind of motion. “With the greeting you gave me, I had _no idea_.”

“Why, I ought to—” At that moment I had to disguise my laugh as a cough because Auruo had actually bitten his tongue in his rage. I had never seen someone get so angry that they bit their tongue before.

“Oookay Auruo, it’s time to go.” The blond man said, grabbing Auruo by the arm and leading him towards the door. “Sorry, Petra. You know how he is.”

“Don’t worry about it, Erd. Sometimes I wonder why you two even hang around with an idiot like him.” Petra said, her tone much sweeter.

“Sometimes, I wonder myself.” I heard Gunther mutter as he followed the other two and they left. Erwin came out of the back room and looked at us curiously.

“Did I just hear Auruo?” He asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Not to worry, boss.” Petra chirped, “Eren and I had everything under control.”

“Ah, well I’m glad to hear it. I’m about finished in here, let me get back to it.” He smiled and returned to the backroom.

“The way you handled that guy was pretty great.” I commented, “You didn’t need to give me any credit.”

“You did show an interest in my safety, though.” She said after a moment. “And if I had been the same girl I was back when I was dating that sorry excuse of a man, I might have needed it. It’s nice to know that there are still good guys in the world. I’m sure a girl would be lucky to have you looking out for her.” She smiled, and it was almost motherly. I smiled back, but in my thoughts, I was laughing. _A girl_ … if only she knew we were after the same _guy._ That train of thought made me tense a bit; sure I’d admitted to myself that I had a crush, but to think I was _competing_ for Levi was a bit… much.

* * *

That night, I got on Facebook to find that Levi had sent me a message.

**_Levi Heichou: Hey brat._ **

The time stamp confirmed that it’d only been sent roughly fifteen minutes ago, so maybe he was still online. According to Facebook, he wasn’t… but knowing what little I knew about him, I had a feeling that he’d set it so that he appeared offline.

**_Eren Jaeger: What’s up?_ **

Instead of waiting for a response like an idiot, I checked my feed and read the statuses of friends and whatever else people did on Facebook when they were trying to convince themselves that they weren’t actually hoping that the guy they had a massive crush on was actually online and would maybe send a response soon. I heard that little bubble noise that signified a notification.

**_Levi Heichou: Don’t know if he told you, but Erwin’s planning a Halloween party after work in a few weeks. I’m sure he’ll iron out the details and send out invites in the next few days, but I’m giving you a heads up._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Thanks, I hadn’t heard of it yet._ **

**_Levi Heichou: I’m sure he’ll want to invite you, he usually invites all the “new recruits.”_ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Does this mean I have to wear a costume?_ **

**_Levi Heichou: Well, it’s not really a fucking Halloween party if you don’t, you colossal moron._ **

I found his insults endearing. _What on earth was wrong with me?_ Nevertheless, I was smiling. He _was_ talking to me, in a way. He was paying attention to me. I remembered something I’d seen on my feed about how in anime, the underclassmen get happy if the upperclassmen acknowledge their existence and I couldn’t help but think it: _Senpai had noticed me._ As soon as I thought it, though, I wanted to kick myself for being so embarrassing. Just another day in the life of Eren Jaeger…

**_Eren Jaeger: Point taken. Ugh, now I have to think of what to dress up as._ **

**_Levi Heichou: Don’t hurt yourself. I imagine thinking to be rather taxing for you._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence._ **

**_Levi Heichou: It’s my pleasure._ **

That seemed like a good place to stop replying, so I did. I had wanted to ask him what he was going to dress up as, but thought better of it. It might be fun to leave it as a surprise.

* * *

As Levi had speculated, within a few days I received my formal invitation—well, as formal as an event invitation via Facebook could be—to the Halloween party. It was going to be at Erwin’s house in two weeks on a Saturday, since we opened later on Sunday mornings. I hadn’t given any thought to what I’d dress up as yet, and figured I’d just buy some crappy, generic costume at one of the many Halloween shops that always popped up around this time. It didn’t really matter to me what I went as so long as I wasn’t the loser who didn’t have a costume. I wondered if I could let Mikasa tag along. I sent Erwin a message asking as much and received a reply pretty promptly that she could.

That night, over dinner I mentioned it to see if she’d be interested.

“My boss is throwing a Halloween party and said you could come if you wanted to. It’s in two weeks, on Saturday night.” I said, looking at her to gauge her reaction.

“That’s nice of him. I’ll have to see if I’m off that Sunday.” She responded. “I never know until the week of, what my off days are.”

“I know, I’m just putting it out there.” Hopefully, she’d like my coworkers, many of which were becoming my friends. I idly wondered what she’d think of Levi. Would she approve? Probably not, she usually didn’t take kindly to people who made fun of me, but I had somehow convinced myself that it was his way of flirting, for whatever reason. “Oh, you’ll have to wear a costume.” I added.

“Maybe I can be a witch. All I’d need to buy is the hat.” She mused. I wish I could have thought of something so quickly… but it did give me an idea, and I started thinking of things I had in my closet that I could wear with a few accessories and still count as ‘being in costume.’ I still had some time to think of a costume, so I wasn’t too worried.


	5. O-BOO-ligatory Halloween Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One Halloween party and a drinking game later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the first chapter I've written that doesn't have breaks; just one long scene.

The days before the Halloween party blew by pretty quickly. I had finally settled on just getting ears, a tail and one of those cheap plastic muzzles to be a werewolf. I knew it wasn’t the most creative or intricate idea, but with a budget and such short notice, it was probably the best thing I could come up with. I did, at least, choose some of my older clothes that had been somewhat moth-eaten and torn so I wouldn’t feel bad about making them look even more tattered. I figured it would make me look like I had transformed or something. I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting my ears and mussing my hair just right.

“Ugh, this is the stupidest costume idea ever.” I complained. “I’m going to have the dumbest costume out of everyone.”

“It’s not that bad, Eren.” Mikasa reassured me. As it had turned out, she would be off tomorrow and was able to come with me to the party. “You’re acting a bit more flustered about your appearance than usual, is there someone you want to impress?” Leave it to her to notice.

“Yeah, sort of. I guess.” I said, looking at the ground. The way Levi had mentioned the party to me over Facebook told me that this was an annual event and he would probably have a really great costume because he’d had a whole year to work on it. I hoped he didn’t make fun of my half-assed werewolf, but I genuinely couldn’t afford anything more than the $15 I’d spent on the cheaply made accessories. I kind of frowned, because even Mikasa’s costume looked better than mine and all she’d bought was a witch hat and thrown on a long-sleeved black dress. She placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not like we’re trying to place in a costume contest. Just have fun.”

I heard a knock on the door; that had to be Hanji. She had agreed to drive Mikasa and I to the party since the buses wouldn’t be running after it ended, though she had assured us both that Erwin usually didn’t mind letting people stay the night if we needed to. I took a final glance into the mirror and sighed. It’d have to do, it’s not like I could magically get a better costume in the next five seconds. I hurried to the door and opened it to find Hanji standing there in a bright blue pinstriped suit and red converse sneakers.

“Allons-y, Eren!” She said, “I’ve been wanting to say that all night. What do you think?”

“Oh, you’re from Doctor Who.” I replied, “I’ve only seen a few episodes.”

“Man, you’ve gotta get Netflix and catch up… Or I could let you borrow my DVDs.” She was practically bouncing around. “Then we could talk about what seasons are the best—obviously the one with Donna—and what the creepiest aliens are!”

“Yes, eventually…”

“You must be Hanji.” Mikasa stepped up and offered her hand. “I’m Eren’s sister, Mikasa.” Hanji took her hand and shook it.

“Ah, yes! It’s very good to meet you!”

“Yes, same here. I’ve heard lots of good things about you. Let me also say that we’re both grateful to you for taking us to the party tonight.” I nodded as Mikasa said this.

“It’s no problem, kiddos.” Hanji clapped a hand on each of our shoulders and ushered us toward the door. “Are we ready to roll?” We both nodded and stepped outside. I locked the door to the apartment and Hanji led us to her truck, a Nissan Titan. Now, I don’t know how she managed it, but Hanji drove that thing like it was a race car and I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to get to a destination in my life. When we finally arrived at Erwin’s, I almost wanted to kiss the ground. I suddenly wasn’t so sure about Hanji driving us back home. Mikasa, on the other hand, seemed unfazed.

Erwin’s house was cozy enough; it was a single story ranch style home with a decent yard. We walked up to the front door and Hanji rang the doorbell. The door opened and Erwin, dressed as Ozymandias from Watchmen, greeted us.

“Ah, Eren, glad you could make it! You must be his sister… Mikasa?” Mikasa nodded and took Erwin’s offered handshake. “I hope Hanji’s driving hasn’t completely scarred you two.”

“Oh, Erwin!” Hanji laughed. “I drive perfectly well. We’re here and not dying on the side of the road, right?”

“I’m pretty sure you and I have different definitions of what constitutes good driving, Hanji.” Erwin countered with a grin. “Anyway, come in! If you need anything, let me know. The food and drinks are on the table in the back. We’ve got pizza and sodas and other snack type stuff. Later on we’re going to watch some classics like _Nightmare on Elm Street_ and _Friday the 13 th_.”

We followed Erwin into his house and I saw that Connie and Sasha were already there. He was dressed as Aang from _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ and Sasha was dressed as Katara. I was pretty sure they were either a couple or going to be one sooner or later; it was cute. I waved at him and pulled Mikasa over so I could introduce her to them. We chatted for a bit about different things. Sasha was gushing about how good the pizza was—apparently it was either homemade or from a local place. I decided to grab a slice before they were gone, if it was as good as Sasha said it was. While I made my way to the concessions, I ran into Marco—who was dressed as Buddy Christ—and we made some small talk.

I idly wondered where Levi was, I hadn’t seen him yet.

“Hey Jaeger, nice costume.” Jean whispered into my ear and I’d never admit to it, but I jumped a couple feet into the air.

“Ugh, it’s you.” I snapped as I turned. A white mask obscured his face, but it was pretty obvious he was smiling wide. He was wearing a suit and white gloves as well _._ “I’d say the same about yours, but I wasn’t aware that Slenderman had a horse face.” 

“Shut up! I don’t have a horse face!” Jean said, “At least my costume didn’t come from the dollar store!”

“Jean, calm down.” Marco stepped in, “You’re not being very nice.” He flashed me an apologetic look, and I shrugged.

“It’s ok, Marco. I was going to go talk to the others anyway.” And maybe find Levi, wherever he was. I managed to finally grab a couple of slices of the pizza and drinks for me and Mikasa and turned to scan the small gathering. I spotted Petra talking to Hanji; she was dressed as Cleopatra. Mike was standing close by in a pinstripe suit and a fake Uzi, so I figured he was supposed to be a gangster. Ymir was in the back in a pretty nice rendition of Captain Jack Sparrow, and it looked like she was propositioning Christa, who was wearing a pretty impressive blue ball gown; it didn’t dawn on me until I saw her shoes that she was supposed to be Cinderella. _Well, that’s an unlikely pair, but I suppose it works._ Still no sign of Levi. Maybe he’d been sent off to get something? I made my way back towards Mikasa.

“Sorry I took longer than expected.” I said, “Here.” I offered her a slice of pizza and a soda, which she took with a nod of thanks.

“I’m glad you’re making friends.” She said in a tone I couldn’t quite place. I took a bite of the pizza; Sasha was right. This was really _good!_

“Oh wow, Mikasa. You’ve got to try this.” I said between bites, motioning to my soon-to-be-gone slice. She smiled at me and took a bite.

“Wow, you’re right, I’m pretty sure this is the best pizza I’ve ever had.”

“Glad to hear it.” I heard a familiar deadpan behind me and whirled around to see the shortest Rorschach in existence.

“Wait, did you—” I pointed at what was left of the slice of pizza in my hand and just kind of stared. Levi was probably giving me a look that was obscured by his inkblot mask, but I could picture it in my head clearly, especially when he clicked his tongue.

“Yes, brat, I made the damn pizza.” He crossed his arms. “So are you going to introduce me to your friend or am I going to have to develop telepathic powers?”

“Oh! Sorry, this is my sister, Mikasa.” I turned to Mikasa, “This is my assistant manager, Levi.” While I was talking, he had taken off his fedora and was lifting the mask up.

“It’s hard to breathe wearing that damn thing anyway.” He commented, folding up the mask and stuffing it into one of the pockets of his trench coat. “Nice to meet you, by the way. Well, I’d better go let Erwin know I finished his stupid errand…” he said as he turned to look for him. Once he’d left, Mikasa gave me a look.

“What?”

“That’s the person you like, isn’t it?” She asked quietly. “Don’t try to deny it. I can tell.” My face flushed and I looked down at my feet.

“I knew you’d be able to tell.” I admitted.

“He seems… a bit crude, but it’s your love life.” She shrugged, “but if he so much as breaks your heart, I’ll rip his out.” She said this so easily it was pretty unnerving. I gulped and nodded silently and came up with an excuse that I wanted to go walk around some more and that she should try to make friends while I was gone and she shrugged and made her way over to Christa and Ymir while I took off in the opposite direction.

I probably should have asked Erwin, but I just needed some time to myself and I didn’t want to arouse suspicion, so I ducked into what I hoped was an unoccupied room and closed the door. Although it was dark in the room I’d walked into, it appeared to be some kind of guest room, because I couldn’t imagine Erwin fitting on twin sized bed and it had a certain ‘disused’ air to it; like the room wasn’t regularly lived in. I sank down to the floor with my back to the door and sighed. I didn’t know why this was getting to me, I knew I felt something for Levi, and I thought I’d admitted it to myself, but I guess the gravity of it hadn’t quite set in until that moment. I wanted to just… tell him. I wanted to confess my feelings to him and see how he’d react, but all the same, I was terrified that it wouldn’t be in the way I’d hoped. The man was ten years my senior and he probably wouldn’t be interested in an inexperienced kid anyway.

I didn’t even realize I was crying until my hands felt wet. As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough that I’d been this affected by my thoughts… I let out a sigh and pulled the plastic muzzle down to hang around my neck so I could wipe my face with my sleeve when the door behind me shuddered.

“Eren, is that you?” It was Levi. _Oh, god_. I didn’t know if I could face him. “I know someone’s in there.” He tried again, and I tried to speak, but a hoarse ‘eep’ was all I could manage as I scrabbled away from the door. Levi entered, closing the door behind him. I looked at the carpet, worried he’d see my face, even in the darkness and make fun of me.

“Hey, brat…” he turned on the light and squatted down, leaning on his knees, to look at me. “Were you crying? Did Jean talk shit again?”

“No, I’m just being stupid.” I mumbled. I still couldn’t look at his face.

“Well, what’s wrong? I noticed I didn’t see your stupid face all of a sudden, why’re you hiding in here?”

“I don’t know.” I lied. He gave me a skeptical stare and stood, reaching for the knob.

“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He said and left. I was so confused at that point, not knowing what to expect. He was only gone for a few minutes, but it felt like hours as I sat there trying to imagine what on earth he was planning. When he returned, he had a bottle of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum and two shot glasses.

“But I’m under—”

“Then don’t tell anyone I fucking gave you this, moron.” He hissed, sitting across from me. “Have you ever done shots?” I shook my head. Sure, I’d had a beer here and there when I could score one, but hard liquor was something I hadn’t really experimented with. He placed a glass in front of each of us and filled them both. “We’re going to play a game called two truths, one lie. The rules are simple; you tell me three statements. Two are true, one is a lie. If I guess which one is the lie correctly, you drink. If I don’t guess it correctly, then I drink. We swap back and forth. Got it?” I nodded and swallowed the lump that had materialized in my throat.

“I’ll go first.” He said, “One, ‘Heichou’ isn’t my real last name. Two, My favorite color is brown. Three, I’m twenty-nine years old.” This was a lot harder than I expected it to be. I waffled for a moment, trying to decide which of his statements was the lie… Hanji had told me he was twenty-nine, so I knew that one wasn’t  it... but I honestly didn’t know about his favorite color or about his last name, though it seemed somewhat farfetched that he’d be using an alias.

“Uh, number one is the lie?”

“Are you sure?” His poker face was placid as ever and I had no real way of telling, so I nodded. “Wrong! The lie was two, I actually like the color green. Drink up, brat.” I took the shot shakily and gulped it back, not having expected it to burn quite so much.

“Oh wow, shit…” I coughed, “That was strong… if ‘Heichou’ isn’t your last name, what is it?” I asked.

“That’s for me to know and for you to shut the fuck up about. Hurry up, it’s your turn.” He snapped. I winced at his tone and thought for a moment before taking my turn.

“One, my mom died a few years ago. Two, I’ve never been in a relationship before. Three, I secretly like to listen to Nickelback.”

“The lie better be three, because Nickelback blows the big one.” Levi replied flatly. He was right, I didn’t like to listen to them at all. That meant I had to take another shot. _Damnit_. “I should probably warn you that I rarely ever lose this game and that also it’s too late to back out now… and wow, you’ve _never_ been in a relationship? Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Shut up.” I muttered, blushing; I didn’t know if it was because of the alcohol or embarrassment or both. We went a few more rounds, and Levi had the upper hand; my face was just too expressive. Levi leaned back on his arms and looked at the ceiling of the room for a moment before he spoke again.

“One, I’ve got a foot long dick—you know what they say about short people, built like tripods and all that. Two, I had a thing with Erwin, long ago. Three, I used to have long hair when I was a teen.” I felt like my face somehow blushed harder, if that was even possible, at the first two statements and I could have sworn I saw the tiniest smirk on his face, if only for a nanosecond.

“I shincerely hope the firsht one is the lie.” I said with a slight slur. “That’sh gotta be uncomfortable.” He arched an eyebrow to that, but silently took his shot. My first victory all night.

“Hanji told you about Erwin and me, didn’t she? That shitty glasses bitch.” He said after he emptied his shot and poured more rum into the glass. “Why would _you_ care how big my dick is?” the bluntness with which he asked this made me into a stuttering mess.

“N-n-n-no reason I jusht thought it’d… it’d be really hard to, uh, find clothes that fit an’, um… uh…”

“Okay, I was just messing with you, but your defensiveness has sparked my curiosity.” He leaned in really close to me and studied my face. “Why are you so embarrassed?”

“I’m not it’s jusht the alcohol—” I tried.

“Bullshit.” He said simply. I was starting to feel the effects of the rum, and felt even more ashamed of being such a lightweight; it had only been about four or five shots. Then again, I had no real idea if four or five shots was average or not. I felt like I couldn’t contain my frustration anymore.

“Ugh fine, I like you!” I blurted. There’s a reason they called alcohol liquid courage, because at that moment my mind just said _fuck it_ and I leaned in and kissed Levi. It wasn’t anything particularly steamy; I just leaned in and brushed my lips clumsily over his and I remember thinking that they were a lot softer than I had expected. When I pulled back, his eyes were wide and I realized what I’d done. I felt my stomach lurch… there wasn’t anything quite as sobering as realizing what a potentially huge mistake you’d just made, and boy did it feel like I had just taken a leap off of _Mount Biggest Mistake Ever_. I ran out of the room and out the front door because I didn’t have time to ask anyone where the bathroom was and that was the only place I could make it to. I hunched over, hands on my knees and vomited onto the grass. I stood there, hunched like that for a few moments, trying to catch my breath when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Surprisingly, it was Levi. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and straightened.

“Sorry about that.” I said weakly.

“The thing about alcohol is that it tends to bring out the truth.” Levi said. I was caught off-guard by the statement and I must’ve looked confused, because he continued. “I actually don’t drink much because I’m scared of the truth when it comes to me. My dad was a lousy drunk and his true nature was that of an abuser who liked to beat the shit out of me and my mom.”

“You’re being… talkative.” I said, stunned. This was the most personal thing he’d ever told me.

“Don’t be an idiot. I talk when I need to.” He rolled his eyes.

“Why are you telling me this, then?” I asked, trying to read his face.

“Because you just told me a pretty big truth. It’s only fair.” He started walking back towards the house, “By the way, no one saw you run out. Everyone’s in the living room watching shitty horror movies.” Well, at least no one would be asking me what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, according to stuff I've read on wikis and such, Erwin is based on Ozymandias and Levi's based on Rorschach; also there's this super cute fanart over on pixiv (http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=37336639)...


	6. Overthinking is Bad For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The holidays are getting nearer, and customers are getting ruder; tensions are rising in both the stress sense and the sexual sense. Eren thinks Levi hates him and wallows about it a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want some yummy Levi POV shower wank, be sure to check out the side thing I did. It escalates kinda fast, but gdi I wanted to write something smutty for this universe, and since the main story isn’t ready for it yet…… [Bam. Side thingy.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1010520)
> 
> Bee Tea Dubs, if any of you brats are on tumblr, I track both 'fic: tciaaw' and 'fic: the customer is almost always wrong.' And I've got the same url there as my pseud here. ;)

Business was picking up for the holidays as well, and all kinds of people kept coming into the store who you wouldn’t normally expect in a game store and, boy, was it frustrating having to explain things that should be common knowledge over and over. _No, you can’t play PS2 games on a Wii. Yes, I am aware that the discs look the same… but it’s not a cartridge based system. ARE YOU FROM THE PAST?_ Regardless of that, the events of the Halloween party kept resurfacing in the back of my mind. It’d been a few days since and even though people often said they didn’t remember what they did while they were drunk—though had I really been? I wasn’t even positive—I remembered every detail of what had happened and I couldn’t stop kicking myself about it. I really was an idiot, and it was apparent that Levi didn’t return my affections because I was pretty sure he was avoiding me. October passed into November and I kept festering and brooding about it, but I wasn’t really sure how to deal with it.

Most of my days at work were spent trying to forget it even happened to no avail, and I noticed that lately Erwin hadn’t been scheduling us together and the thought entered my mind that maybe he’d requested this to further avoid me. I had wished that he could have just told me that he wasn’t interested; it would have been a lot easier than whatever this roundabout bullshit was. I knew I was more irritated than usual, but I still tried to hide it around the customers; corporate was really cracking down on customer experience surveys and the last thing I needed was to get too many negative reviews. Retail’s best experience, at least in mine, is that it really teaches you to pretend to care. As long as they think you cared, it didn’t really matter if you did or not. It was all about the illusion…

“Excuse me.” A customer brought me out of my reverie and I blinked at her. She was probably some kid’s grandmother. I mentally sighed, expecting to have to go into one of my dumbed-down explanations of how the various systems worked, but gave her a smile despite it all. If there’s one thing you need to survive in retail, it’s a convincing fake smile.

“Yes, ma’am. How can I help you?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t be too frustrating.

“I’m trying to find games for a…” she took out a piece of paper that looked like it’d been written by a young child, “DS3?”

“Do you mean _PS3_?”

“No, I’m pretty sure this says DS3. Is that a thing?” I tried to contain the exasperated sigh as best I could, and I think I managed.

“Well, there’s a handheld system called the _DS,_ and one of them plays games in 3-D called the _3DS_ , but there’s also the kind you hook up to a TV called a _PS3_ , which is short of _Playstation 3._ ” I tried. “Have you seen what the games look like?”

“Why, I don’t know, he usually plays those games at his parent’s house.” She said. I wanted to rip my hair out. Was it really so hard to at least try to learn about the interests of your grandchildren?

“I see. Well, I’d hate for you to buy him a game and it not fit, so why don’t you get him a gift card? That way he can pick out a game he likes?” I suggested, showing her our wide variety of gift cards.

“I don’t know about that. I don’t like giving things like that.” She frowned. I idly hoped a raptor would show up out of nowhere and rip my fucking head off so I could escape this hellhole. _Okay Eren, you may have been playing a bit too much Turok._

“Could I see the list?” I asked, getting the brilliant idea that perhaps the kid wrote down some game titles. She handed it to me and I glanced at it. Success.

“Ah, why didn’t I think of this sooner…” I muttered. “Looks like it’s _PS3_ after all.” I said to her, “He’s written _God Of War 3_ on here, and that’s only on the _PS3_ … but I have to ask, how old is he?”

“Why, he’s seven.” She said, somewhat confused.

“Well, you might want to make sure that it’s okay for him to get this game, then.” I walked her over to the _PS3_ display and showed her the case. “This game’s rated Mature, and it’s for people over seventeen. I can’t, in good conscience, sell the game to you unless you’re aware that it contains blood, violence and sexual situations.”

“Oh, my! Thank you for telling me. I think I’ll have to have a stern talk with him about this, I can’t buy something like that!” She said, astounded as she made her way out of the store. I half wondered if she was just oblivious or if the kid had been trying to be sneaky by asking his grandmother to get him an M rated game as I walked back to the counter to help my next customer.

* * *

It wasn’t until it was almost closing time that we managed to have a bit of a lull, and I was more annoyed by that than anything because it meant I now had time to stew over things and that was probably the last thing I needed to do. I tried to busy myself and began the store recovery process while Hanji processed trades and struck up a one-sided conversation with Sasha. As I was straightening the _DS_ section, I couldn’t help but recall what had happened between me and Levi at the party, especially his expression after I had… kissed him. He looked so shocked and disappointed and I was completely ashamed that I had even let myself get so taken in by it all. I mean, I should have known. He was older than me and he probably had high standards that I didn’t even come close to. I should have known better than to think someone like him would ever want someone like me.

I could feel tears stinging in the corners of my eyes and I wanted to hurl myself off of the nearest cliff. _Goddamnit, why am I being an emotional wreck now, of all times?_ I hoped no one saw me crying. Crying is what had gotten me in this mess in the first place. I had been fucking crying and had gone to hide and he’d found me and tried to lift my spirits and my stupid brain thought, for some reason, that there might just be something between us and it couldn’t have been more wrong. I was so utterly frustrated with myself and with the situation, because even though I should have known better, I couldn’t forget how his lips felt and I wanted to kiss him again and again.

“Um, Hanji? I’ll be in the back… if you need me.” I said absently as I walked through the back door. I didn’t want them to see my face, to ask what was wrong. I decided to duck into the bathroom for good measure, and that was a brilliant idea on my part because as I was closing the door I heard Hanji calling to me.

“You’re not getting sick are you?”

“I’ll be fine.” I lied. I didn’t really think I’d be fine anytime soon. I leaned against the door for a while and just cried, still mad at myself for this moment of weakness. Not so much the crying, but for thinking I ever had a chance… and little bit because of the crying. I’d been crying on and off for the last few days and it was getting annoying and, in the end, I couldn’t blame Levi for it. It wasn’t his fault that I wasn’t someone he’d want to be with. I wanted to talk to someone about it, but I didn’t want to talk to Mikasa because she might blame him, and I didn’t want to talk to anyone at work because they might blab… and it dawned on me that I did have someone I could talk to; Armin.

* * *

I logged on to Facebook, hoping to see Armin online, which wasn’t too much of a stretch considering the time and what I had gathered of his online habits while we’d been slowly forging a friendship. We had talked a few times since he suggested I add him and it turned out we had a lot in common, and he even let me borrow some of his own _PS3_ games since I couldn’t afford to buy too many—in fact, it was his copy of _Turok_ I’d been playing lately. I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding when I saw the marker next to his name signaling his online status and clicked the word bubble at the top of the page to start our conversation.

**_Eren Jaeger: Hey Armin. You have a minute?_ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Yeah, did you need to talk about something?_ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Yeah, actually._ **

I paused for a moment. I didn’t know for sure if I wanted to involve him in any of this, but I knew I had to talk to someone about it… but was it too much to ask? I didn’t want to impose. I shrugged to myself and continued messaging him.

**_Eren Jaeger: Listen, this stays here, ok?_ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Ooh, gossip? My lips are sealed._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Sort of gossip, and good. Anyway, so you know the other night I went to the… store Halloween party, right?_ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that. Was it fun?_ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Well, for the most part, yeah. We watched cheesy horror movies and had to wear costumes and the food was good._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: ‘For the most part?’_ **

**_Eren Jaeger: ...Don’t make fun of me, but I kind of drank some booze and did something stupid._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Oh snap. What did you do?_ **

I sighed. I couldn’t back out of telling him now. I had to go through with it. I steeled myself and reassured myself that Armin was not the type of person to laugh at my screw ups; if anything, that was a perfect description of Jean.

**_Eren Jaeger: I kinda… told the person I liked that I like them. And then I kissed them. And I don’t think they like me back. Like, at all._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: What makes you say that?_ **

He hadn’t asked me who it was… and I instantly felt guilty for withholding it in the first place. I was thankful, though, that he hadn’t asked. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to tell him that much.

**_Eren Jaeger: Well, the look on their face… seemed somewhat disappointed._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Maybe they were just disappointed that they hadn’t noticed you liked them sooner? Or that the kiss ended too quickly? You’re probably overthinking it._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: But he’s been avoiding me ever since._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Maybe he’s just busy. Holidays are tough on everyone, especially retail workers._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: Good point._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Still, you should talk to him about it. Like, face to face or at least in a medium where you can hear his voice. I’m nearly 100% positive that you’re making it out to seem worse than it is._ **

I hadn’t really realized that I’d slipped from using vague pronouns to male ones. _Shit…_ but Armin didn’t seem to mind or care. He didn’t bring it up or mention it and knew in that moment that he was probably one of the best friends I could have ever had the good fortune to have come across. He never judged me, not even when I admitted that I was crushing on another guy, which was fairly monumental considering the town we lived in was still somewhat conservative on that front. Actually, outside of Mikasa and Levi and now, Armin… no one knew my preferences. And I only knew Levi and Erwin’s thanks to Hanji’s big mouth; which simply served as a reminder that she could never find out any of my secrets.

**_Eren Jaeger: You know, you’re probably right. I’ll try to talk to him… and thanks for not making fun of me for liking another dude._ **

**_Armin Arlelt: Uh, why would I do that? I’m gay._ **

I should have known. I smiled to myself.

**_Eren Jaeger: I guess I should have seen that coming with the bowl cut and the Pokémon obsession, huh?_ **

**_Armin Arlelt: I just rolled my eyes so hard, you could probably hear it. But seriously, even if I wasn’t I wouldn’t judge you._ **

**_Eren Jaeger: You’re the best friend I could have ever asked to meet randomly at work._ **

* * *

Armin’s advice helped to pick me up if only slightly. Still, I was filled with trepidation when it came to _actually_ contacting Levi. The only ways would be over _PSN_ or in person and I wasn’t sure if I could handle a real life encounter, so I logged onto my console and hoped to see him online. He wasn’t... my mind immediately took things down a negative route and I started wondering if he’d blocked me or removed me or something, but he still showed up in my friends list, so maybe not? I wasn’t one hundred percent sure how blocking worked for the person who’d been blocked.

For the next few days, I logged into _PSN_ to see if Levi was on, but his name was always listed as offline. Maybe he really was avoiding me; my mood had been stuck in an angry rut because of it. I needed the closure, at least. I needed to know why he wasn’t talking to me, what I did wrong. Whenever I worked, I had to really keep myself in check because with the way customers were for the season, I wanted to snap all their necks. Every last one. I’d had enough of the elderly not understanding the next generation consoles, the people getting upset when I carded them for mature titles, having to wait in line, or even yelling at me when something they absolutely needed wasn’t in stock. _What did they want me to do, magically pull it out of my ass?_ I felt like things were closing in on me several times during the workday and had to escape into the break room just to cool off for a bit and I hoped none of my coworkers minded. I was in the back, trying to calm down when Mike decided to check up on me.

“Hey kid, you ok?”

“Yeah, just… a lot going on. Out there.” I tried to clarify, to make it seem like this was solely because of the holiday season.

“You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, but don’t lie about it. Lies stink.” He said. I sighed.

“Sorry, it’s just hard to talk about.”

“I get you. Well, take as many breaks as you need. This is your first holiday season in retail, isn’t it? You’re actually handling it pretty well, all things considered.” He offered.

“Thanks, Mike.” He nodded, and went back out to the sales floor. Sometimes I felt like we really were a little family here at Game N’ Go. A bit on the dysfunctional side, sure, but in the charming, sitcom kind of way.

* * *

I decided to take my emotions out on rampaging dinosaurs and started playing some more _Turok_ when I got home _._ It was about the third time I’d been devoured by a tyrannosaurus that I was about to lob my controller at the wall when the notification popped up in the corner of the screen announcing that _DontHeichouMe_ was now online. My heartbeat surged and I waffled for a moment on whether or not I should attempt to confront him now. I’d been so sure the last few days… where had my confidence gone? I squeezed my eyes shut as I initiated the request for a voice chat and hoped it wasn’t declined.

He accepted, and I wasn’t sure how I should feel about it.

“Hey brat. It’s been a while.” He said, “Wanna play something?”

“Actually, I… wanted to talk. About the Halloween party.” I started, and before I let him say anything else, I blurted, “Just… forget it happened, ok? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… do that. I mean, I wanted to, but I didn’t mean to—”

“Eren. Shut up for a second.” Levi interrupted, but I stumbled on.

“Just let me finish… please? I just… you looked so shocked and disappointed and I’m sorry ‘cause you probably don’t even like me like that and I just made an ass of myself and I’m really sorry, so please just pretend it never happened. I don’t want to lose you as a friend, I liked working with you and playing _Call of Duty_ with you and I can’t deal with this rejection, so please just forget about that stupid kiss.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I refuse to forget.” His tone was… I didn’t know what it was, but it was different than usual.

“W-why? What do you—” I started.

“Because I liked it, you idiot.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, the idea, at least. You’re a piss-poor kisser, but I could… teach you how to kiss me properly. If… that’s something you’d want to pursue.” I could hear the smirk in his voice, and felt my face flushing.

“But why haven’t you… talked to me since then? Weren’t you avoiding me?”

“Avoiding you? Don’t be moronic. It’s the holiday season. I’ve been busier than fuck; I mean, I’ve got some additional shit to worry about as assistant, for one, and then there are my responsibilities outside of work. It’s not like the world revolves around you, you know.” He explained. Armin had been right after all.

“You… liked it? You like me?” I asked softly.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I do. I _have_ jerked it a few times while thinking about you.” That unexpected tidbit left me red-faced and sputtering, even though I was pretty sure it was just Levi being, well, Levi. He laughed lightly and I decided that that was a sound I needed to file away forever. “You’ve got some stupid fucking beautiful eyes, you twat bag… and I guess your personality’s okay, too.”

“Gee, thanks… Your pet names for me keep getting more and more creative.” I laughed.

“Well, there’s plenty more where that came from, dick cheese.”

“Does… does that mean that we’re… um. Boyfriends?” I trailed off into a whisper.

“It can if you want it to.” He said easily. “We can go as fast or as slow as you want.” 


	7. It's the Most Terrible Time of the Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holiday shopping picks up, Thanksgiving and Black Friday happen, Eren discovers more about Levi’s past and they have a little fun in the backseat. (Rating upped to Mature)

Things went back to relatively normal and I was a lot less irritated by personal stuff at work… not that it mattered; the customers were still extremely annoying during the season no matter what was going on in my life outside of the store. We had decided to take things slow; I’d seen enough sitcoms and movies to know that rushing a romance was a generally bad idea, even if you were so-called soul mates. We also decided to keep things under wraps and as of right now, only Armin and Mikasa knew about my relationship with my assistant manager. Armin had congratulated me, saying he was happy for me and that he was glad he could help me with his advice. Mikasa had also congratulated me, in her own way… and she also reiterated her warning from the party and I reassured her that she didn’t need to go that far if it came to it.

As I mentioned before, the customers were getting more and more irritating the closer it got to December. The store was almost always busy from open to close, and I was getting really tired of the rude ones, which was roughly eighty percent of them. It completely baffled me, all the major holidays of this season were centered around things like ‘family’ and ‘giving’ and other ideas of kindness and selflessness, but it had become such a commercialized mess that all of those things were thrown out the window in the hopes of making sure some undeserving brat got an _Xbox One_ or a _PS4_. It was enough to turn me into a scrooge. Still, I did my best to deal with each customer and maintain my composure. I almost lost it a few times, but it wasn’t anything that ducking into the backroom for a few moments to do some breathing exercises couldn’t handle.

The basic strategy Erwin had devised for us to handle the hustle and bustle was simple. The ‘trainee squad,’ as he liked to call us, handled people as they entered the store, locating what they were looking for and collecting each item from the drawers or backroom or wherever it was. The ‘veteran squad’ took care of ringing up the orders and checking people out as quickly as possible, and handling any trades. The ‘commanding officer’ was the manager on duty and they expedited, but were mainly there to address problems that might arise. It was an efficient way of making sure that people kept moving, but it didn’t completely dissolve the lines… and with the way some people complained about it, I had to wonder if they’d never tried to shop during the holidays before, I mean, what rock did you have to live under to think it’d be possible to get in and out of a store in a few minutes at this time of year?

On top of all of this, there were still some people trying to cheat the system. On more than one occasion we had customers trying to trade in things that were clearly stolen (don’t try to tell me that an obviously straight seventeen year old guy would own a pink _DSi_ registered to a ‘Cindy’ with an _Imagine Fashion_ cartridge still in it). All we could do, though, was turn down the trade. If they pushed it, we had to make up a bullshit reason and not say ‘it looks stolen’ because corporate was so worried they’d sue us for defamation or something… I’ve always thought it was ridiculous, to be honest. There were all sorts of scams that people tried during this time, probably because we were so busy they figured it’d be easier to fly under the radar, and it worked for some.

“Connie, Eren, I need to speak with you both.” Erwin said one morning before opening. He’d called us in early so we could have this little meeting and I was curious as to what it would be about, though I had my suspicions. We followed Erwin to the backroom and he showed us a twenty dollar bill.

“What do you see?” He asked.

“A twenty.” Connie answered.

“A… counterfeit?” I asked, noting that something about it looked off. I couldn’t quite place it, but it just didn’t look quite right.

“Excellent, Eren. Yes, this is a counterfeit twenty dollar bill.” Erwin explained, holding it up to the light. “We need to make sure that we’re checking all the big bills like this for watermarks. Sometimes people bleach a five or one dollar bill and make it look like a twenty, so don’t rely on those detection markers. This one, for example, passed the marker test, but if you look in the light… the watermark is missing. I’m willing to bet it’s actually a one dollar bill.”

“Wow, it looks real.” Connie muttered.

“You’d think that with the effort it takes to make fake money people would be able to, I don’t know, find a real job and not have to resort to that kind of stuff.” I commented.

“I know you two are mainly out on the floor as my trainee squad, dealing with customers and getting their orders together, but if you find yourselves on the registers, please be sure to check bills from ten dollars upwards. If you aren’t sure, it’s imperative that you ask a commanding officer for help.”

We both nodded, and began to ready the store for the day as the two ‘veterans’ showed up; Petra and Ymir.

* * *

The days went by, Thanksgiving rapidly approaching and the inevitable Black Friday that came after it. Besides Christmas Eve, it was one of the busiest retail days of the year… and I was _not_ looking forward to it. Not if Hanji’s tales of past Black Fridays were an indicator; ‘war stories’ wasn’t an exaggeration when describing how she talked about it. One night, after closing, she approached me, offering to drive me home so I wouldn’t have to walk home in the cold. I gladly accepted, and we climbed into her Titan. Even if she drove it like she stole it, it was better than getting frostbite.

“I heard the news, Eren. Congrats!” she said, patting my arm.

“H-huh?”

“Levi told me. Well, I badgered him until he told me. Same difference. He’s actually a real romantic, don’t let his poop humor and vulgar language fool you.” She winked. I was already blushing.

“I figured as much…” I said, “How—”

“Oh, he was humming along to Christmas carols. Levi hates Christmas, probably more than anyone I know, so I knew something was up.” She explained.

“Because of retail? I don’t blame him… I’m getting to a point where if I hear _Silver Bells_ on the radio one more time, I might go postal.” I said, shaking my head.

“Not only that, his birthday is on Christmas.” She said. “I can only imagine how awful that must be as a kid… never getting a real birthday to yourself… well, here we are!” She had pulled into my apartment complex. I got out of her truck, thanking her for the ride and went inside to mull over the new information I’d gained. I imagined how the conversation must’ve gone between her and Levi, and wondered which Christmas carols he’d been humming along with and smiled to myself.

* * *

I had decided to invite Levi over for Thanksgiving, even if our apartment was small and a bit run down. One of the perks of the warehouse that Mikasa worked for is that every year they gave their employees a free ham, so we already had that taken care of… besides, stuffing and green bean casserole were cheap enough to get the ingredients for. Levi insisted on bringing something, so I told him he could be in charge of one more side and a dessert. He showed up around mid afternoon with macaroni casserole and a cheesecake.

“It’s not just any cheesecake, though.” He said as I placed it in the fridge. “It’s a peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake.”

“That sounds like it’ll taste amazing.” Mikasa commented, and I agreed.

“I hope so, it’s my own recipe.” Levi said. I randomly remembered the first time I’d had something he had made and how Hanji had insisted that he was ‘perfect house wife material’ and smiled. “Hey brat, stop thinking about stupid things. Let’s start setting the table.”

I showed Levi where we kept our silverware and plates (we decided to use our ceramic plates instead of paper plates today since it was a holiday and that was basically our version of ‘nice china’) and we set the table while Mikasa finished up with the ham.

When the food was ready, we laid it out in the kitchen in a kind of buffet so we could each get what we wanted. I piled my plate with Levi’s macaroni and stuffing and ham and a bit of green bean casserole. Everyone else did the same and we shuffled over to the small dining table set our plates down. Mikasa nodded at me and I gave thanks; we’re not religious by any stretch, but given that this year had been a bit better than the last few, I felt that it was appropriate.

“I’m thankful for this food, and for the family I have,” I looked at Mikasa and she smiled, “and for my boyfriend.” I grabbed Levi’s hand and gave it a squeeze and he squeezed back. “Let’s eat.”  

There was the usual small talk, Levi commented that the ham and beans were good and Mikasa insisted that they weren’t as good as Levi’s macaroni. Mikasa shared some of her adventures in warehousing; apparently someone had managed to have an accident with a forklift recently that ended up in a whole pallet crashing down and narrowly missing the supervisor. In no time at all, it was time for dessert. We each got a slice of cheesecake, and I took a bite of mine.

“Holy shit…” I muttered. “That’s probably the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”

“You say that now, but just you wait.” Levi whispered with a mischievous gleam in his eyes and I almost choked. I had to admit, I had set myself up for that one. The cheesecake was rich and decadent, and tasted just like a peanut butter cup. I idly wondered why Levi hadn’t opened a bakery or something. After cleaning up the dishes and setting the dishwasher, Mikasa wandered into the living room and I led Levi to my bedroom.

“Don’t have sex.” Mikasa called from the living room as she settled down to watch _Miracle on 34 th Street_, “I’d really rather not have to listen to that.”

“Ugh, we weren’t going to! Jeez.” I called back. I turned to Levi and said, “Hopefully it’s not too messy.” I had tried to clean up a bit, but had a feeling it wouldn’t be up to Levi’s standards. Still, it was something to be said about the fact that my clean clothes weren’t all over the floor, for once, and were haphazardly folded and in a laundry basket next to my closet. I had even made my bed that morning, something I rarely ever did (why make it if you’re just going to mess up later?).

“I suppose I’ll live.” Levi replied with a smirk. “You put forth an effort, I’ll give you that.”

“So um... Make yourself comfortable, I guess.” I motioned towards the bed, since there really wasn’t anywhere else to sit. He moved towards it, and sat on the edge, crossing his legs. I sat next to him.

“So…” he trailed off. I absently put my hand on his knee.

“Thanks for coming.” I said, “Thanksgiving is usually shitty for us, so it was nice to have a good one this year.”

“I guess that’s something we have in common, then.” He replied, putting his hand on mine and squeezing it reassuringly.

“When… my mom died, my dad kind of went off the deep end and became an alcoholic.” I explained. I didn’t really know why now, of all times, but sooner or later, he’d learn about my shitty family tree. “We had to run away from him. We’ve been emancipated for a few years now, but it hasn’t been easy.”

“Wow. We’re more alike than I thought.”

“Huh?”

“I sort of mentioned this at the Halloween party, but my father was a scumbag drunk who got off on beating the shit out of me and my mother.” He said quietly. “I don’t really like to talk about it.”

It was then that I remembered something else from the Halloween party that had stuck in my mind. “Oh, yeah. You said ‘Heichou’ wasn’t your real last name…?”

“It’s not. It’s a somewhat disused Japanese military rank that roughly translates to ‘lance corporal.’” He explained. “Erwin came up with it when we met at the University gaming club. He had been taking Japanese and insisted on giving us all nicknames to do with ranks. His was, of course, ‘danchou’—commander and Hanji got ‘buntaichou’ which means ‘Squad leader.’” He let out a sigh. “I kind of decided to use ‘Heichou’… it amused me that he had chosen a Japanese nickname for me, because I hadn’t told him that I’m half Japanese yet.”

“Oh, Mikasa’s half Japanese too.” I said. “She’s actually my foster sister, but it’s really irritating to have to explain it to everyone so I just call her my sister.” I clarified. “Her parents died when she was nine and we took her in.”

“Small world, huh?” He said, and I realized how sad he looked. I didn’t want him to be sad, especially not if I could help it.

“Listen, Levi… you don’t… have to tell me everything right now.” I said, putting my hands on his shoulders. “We’re taking it slow, remember?”

“Thanks for understanding, Eren.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips. We eventually joined Mikasa and spent the rest of the evening cuddling on the couch, watching whatever was on TV.

* * *

Black Friday came and went and I don’t really feel like going into detail about it, other than it sucked… but nothing really unexpected happened. Our store is, luckily, small enough that there was really no room for people to trample each other (though I heard that at the big box store that killed my old job had at least one incident where someone had to be rushed to the hospital in critical condition) and no one tried to slip us fake bills. I was closing with Levi, Mike, Sasha, and Jean. Sasha and I were on floor duty, with Mike and Jean ringing people up. Levi was, of course, the ‘commanding officer.’ I had to admit, Erwin’s military nicknames for things were amusing. We managed to wrap things up with customers only half an hour after closing, which Levi said wasn’t bad. Recovery took a little longer than usual, partly because customers are horrid and leave whatever trash they have lying wherever they want and partly because Levi is a total hard ass when it comes to cleaning. I was tasked with straightening the walls, and picking up trash from the shelves, Jean was in charge of vacuuming, Sasha had to finish processing trades, Mike had clean the backroom and Levi had to count down the registers and ready the deposit.

“Who the hell brought this air freshener?” Mike asked, peeking out from the backroom. “‘Iced Cranberry?’ More like ‘Cranberry Butthole.’” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, along with Sasha and Jean.

“Thank you for the insight, Mike.” Levi said with an amused tone, “But if you must know, it was me because… ‘Cranberry Butthole’ is still better than regular butthole.”

“I suppose that’s true enough.” Mike shrugged, and went back to cleaning.

We managed to finish up, clock out, and wandered out into the parking lot. Jean got into his Mustang and drove away, Mike following suit in his little hatchback as Sasha ran off towards the bus stop and I started to walk home, but Levi grabbed my wrist and gently tugged me back.

“Hey you.” He murmured, pulling me into a somewhat awkward hug. “I wanted to thank you for inviting me over for Thanksgiving. Come sit with me a while?”

“How can I say no?” I replied, and let him lead me to his car: a silver older model Acura Integra, at least ten years old. Regardless, it was in near pristine condition… which was to be expected of anything Levi owned. He unlocked the doors and opened one, ushering me into the back seat. “Ooh, scandalous.” I teased.

“You wish.” He teased right back. “Don’t get your hopes up, kid. Car sex is overrated, painful and I don’t even have any towels… if you think I’m letting you jizz all over my leather interior, you’ve got another thing coming.” I knew my face was a little red, maybe one day I’d get used to his bluntness. Today was not that day.

“Pah, you _wish_ I’d jizz all over _your_ interior.” I countered with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle and he playfully punched my shoulder.

“Ugh who taught you how to flirt, that was awful.” He said, despite climbing into my lap and pressing our foreheads together. “You’re lucky you’re pretty enough to get away with it.”

I looked up into his eyes, my hands on his hips. We shared a silent little moment, and he started to lean in. My heartbeat sped up, and I let my eyes flutter closed as his lips pressed against mine. It was gentle, at first, then he pressed a little harder and I kissed back. He pulled back enough to speak.

“Pay attention, brat… this is how I expect to be kissed.” He said in a breathy whisper, before kissing me again. This time, there was more fervency, more passion. My breathing became more rapid, my heart felt as though it would burst from my chest. He nibbled my bottom lip a little, licking it before pushing his tongue into my mouth. I let out a small gasp, opening my mouth to welcome him. I could taste the faintest hint of his clove cigarettes, but it didn’t bother me; it was so undeniably _Levi_ and I couldn’t get enough. His arms wound around my neck, his hands on my back, pushing us closer together while his lips slowly undid me. I never wanted this to end. We broke apart for a moment, and I opened my eyes. Even though it was dark, I could see he was flushed and he looked… amazing. I smiled up at him.

“You… look hot.” I said breathlessly. It earned me a small smirk, and he crushed his lips against mine again. My hands slid down and grabbed his ass and squeezed it appreciatively, which rewarded me with a low groan and a shallow roll of his hips into mine. A small moan escaped from my mouth into his when I realized we were both getting hard. His kisses trailed down from my mouth to my neck and I shuddered slightly when he started to nip just below my ear. “N-not there…” I whimpered.

“Not here?” His breath tickled me and I felt him lick me again, “It seems to me that you _like_ it here… are you _sure_?” He gave me another playful nibble and rolled his hips again. A groan wrenched itself from my throat.

“I d-do but…” I tried to speak, but it was difficult to form words, let alone think while he was assaulting me like that. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t want to get too wound up, that I knew he wasn’t about to fuck me in the backseat, his earlier statement made that clear, so I didn’t want to get too far gone. He thankfully paused.

“But?”

“God Levi… but if you’re not careful, I _might_ end up ruining your leather. Fuck.” I gasped out, trying to calm down.

“Well, we certainly can’t have that.” He replied, and climbed off of me. “Uh, think of baseball and shit or something. You’ve got one hell of a boner.”

“Gee, I _wonder why._ ” I snapped, “Like you don’t have one…”

“Yeah, but I don’t live with my sister.” He teased. “I can jerk off as soon as I walk in the door if I want to.”

“Not. Helping.” I ground out, and he laughed. He planted a kiss on my cheek and got out of the car to get into the driver’s seat and I followed suit, switching to the passenger’s side.

“Damn, we sure got steamy, didn’t we?” He commented, cranking the heat up to defog the windows.

“It’s like you want to make sure my boner doesn’t go away.” I retorted, shooting him a glare. He shot me a smirk in response.

“Maybe I want you to have to stroke yourself while you think of me.” He said in a seductive voice and a shiver ran through me.

“Goddamnit, Levi.” I breathed. He laughed again, clearly amused with tormenting me like this. The windows finally cleared enough for him to drive safely and he drove me to my apartment. I had finally calmed down enough, so I got out and went to his window to kiss him goodnight only to have him yank me down by my collar and kiss me passionately. A small sound of surprise escaped me as I melted into the kiss, and I felt my pants tighten once again.

“Think of me when you do it.” He said, “Because I know you will.”

He was right; that night I quietly shuddered under my covers with his name on my lips and my hand wrapped around my length.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you work retail and you don’t hate Christmas, then I am convinced you are a robot.
> 
> Sorry if you thought the summary meant there would be actual sex and not just a little bit of backseat make out and references to jacking off. I’m still trying to take things slow in this fic, so please don’t hate me too much if you wanted them to do the do. Worry not, it will happen eventually. I’m nothing if not predictable.


	8. People are Slobs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren wants to buy Levi a present. Hanji admits that she ships ereri. I add a short tale that justifies the "almost" in this fic's title (and as always, it is based on a true story).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta is doing NaNoWriMo and I'd feel awful if I tried to make him beta this, so this is un-beta'd and I'm sorry if there's any issues with pacing, flow, grammar, etc. 
> 
> I do a little bit of time travel and describe Levi’s outfit from Thanksgiving here because I’m not a very good writer and forgot to include it then, oops. Well, better late than never, I suppose.
> 
> I went back to chapter 1 and added a doodle I did of Levi in the work shirt, if anyone's interested~

It was already December, and I had had it with most of the customers. On several occasions, I had to pawn a customer off on someone else before I did something I’d regret. I’d always try for it to be Sasha or Christa or even Connie, who seemed to be much friendlier than I could presently muster. I wasn’t sure if it was just their overall rudeness and ignorance or if I was just frustrated with everything in my life… because even though Levi and I were together, we hadn’t really gotten a lot of time together. I couldn’t wait until this blasted holiday was over and done with. That train of thought would often cause me to remember that the “blasted holiday” was also Levi’s birthday, and I still didn’t have a single clue as to what to get him. I decided that I needed to ask some of the others who’d known him longer than me, but I didn’t know how to play it off as a _totally platonic_ thing. Not that it was that important to keep our relationship on the down-low, since Erwin was so lenient, according to Hanji. I supposed Jean and Marco’s obvious relationship and Sasha and Connie’s burgeoning one should have been proof of this (hell, even whatever Ymir and Christa had, I wasn’t really sure if it had progressed lately from Ymir hitting on an oblivious Christa), but I always had a nagging thought.

 _Those were all between associates. I was dating a manager._ Not that I remotely thought Levi would give me preferential treatment—he was someone who could easily stash his personal life away while he was on the clock… but that didn’t mean that it didn’t look bad. If I got anything at all and they knew, there was always the chance that they’d assume I only got it because Levi and I were screwing (even though we hadn’t even done _that_ yet), which was among the last things I wanted people to think of me. Days were passing as I agonized over who to talk to, and I eventually just decided to ask Hanji. I wasn’t sure if anyone else besides her and Erwin would know Levi well enough… and I wasn’t about to tell Erwin, in case he did decide that a relationship between a lowly associate and an assistant manager was a no-no.

* * *

I’d been off that day and spent most of it playing Levi’s copy of _Assassin’s Creed II_ when I saw _MadScientistZoe_ log on. It was late afternoon, and I figured she’d just gotten home from work. I sent her a request and waited to see if she’d accept.

“Ah, Eren!” I heard her voice come through my headset. “I see you’ve been enjoying some _Ass Creeds._ ”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “It’s actually really fun, and I’m not as bad at it as I am with shooters.” I replied, “Listen, Hanji can we talk?”

“Yeah, sure! I don’t see why not. What’s up?”

“Before I get too into it, promise me you won’t talk about this to anyone.” I pleaded.

“I’ll keep this under wraps better than Area 51.” She chirped back, “Pinky swear!” I figured that was as good a promise as any and continued.

“I want to get Levi something for Chris- for his birthday.” I said. “But I don’t know what to get him. I thought that maybe you’d know what he likes better than I did.”

“Ooh, I see… say Eren, are you two… y’know. An item?” Her tone implied that she already had a feeling she was right and I sighed.

“Yeah, but he wants to keep it under wraps.” Even though it was really more me who wanted to keep the spotlight off of us, I thought that maybe she’d respect the wish more if she thought it was solely his.

“Gotcha… and I _knew_ it. I had a feeling you two would hook up sooner or later!” She laughed. “So, how far have you two gone? I want to know…” her tone shifted and I was suddenly really uncomfortable.

“Uh… we… haven’t done _it_ yet…” I mumbled, “Besides, why would I tell you?”

“Because I ship you two, _duh!_ I want to know if you two are as cute in real life as you are in my head.”

“You… _ship_ us? What does that even mean? Wait—I don’t want to know.” I didn’t want her going into one of her lectures. “Just… help me out here, would you?”

“Alright, alright.” She laughed again, “I know you’ve probably got a tight budget, so… let’s see if I can come up with something inexpensive yet meaningful.”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks. I’ve been saving where I can, but it’s not like I could buy him a _PS4_ or anything.”

“How about… some merch? Like a shirt or a hat or something? Those are usually under thirty dollars.”

“Yeah, but what if he already has it?” And while I was thinking about it, I hadn’t really seen him wearing tee-shirts. True, I’d only seen him in his casual wear once—Thanksgiving—but I had a feeling that it reflected his preferred wardrobe.  And what he’d been wearing then were fitted black skinny jeans, a tailored button-down shirt with a pinstripe pattern, and a black vest. He had also worn a white wool scarf and a black wool overcoat, but those were a given with this year’s colder than normal temperatures. Thinking on this, I blurted, “Does he even _wear_ tee-shirts?”

“Oh, don’t let his hipster wardrobe fool you. He just does that to look dashing.” Hanji said with a chuckle. “And if it’s a gift from you, I bet he’d wear it, even if it was the ugliest Christmas sweater in the world.”

“I’m not buying him an ugly Christmas sweater, Hanji.” My voice took a cynical tone.

“No, no, but _I_ might.” She said with a cackle. Dear god, what had I unleashed? “Ugh, could you imagine him in a huge sweater with the ugliest pattern? It’d be so great. Done. Decided. I’m gonna do it.”

“Um, earth to Hanji… can we get back to my problem?” I was starting to get impatient and wondered why I’d thought this was a good idea in the first place.

“Yeah, sure. Oh! Why don’t you buy him an _Assassin’s Creed_ thing? It’s his favorite game, after all. They’ve got a merch website, I’ll send you a link through facebook.”

“Ok, you may be on to something there. Thanks, I’ll look into it.” Finally, some progress.

True to her word, Hanji had sent me the link moments later. There were all kinds of things from hats to shirts to hoodies to bags to belt buckles. I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to get him, but at least it’d been narrowed down, and Hanji had assured me that as long as I stuck to _Black Flag_ merchandise, it’d be something he definitely didn’t have. I still had my doubts about buying Levi any clothing—besides, was he small or extra small? I didn’t want to deal with getting the wrong size, but I also didn’t want to ask and risk giving anything away. I decided on a belt buckle. It was slightly over thirty dollars, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about sizing and it looked like something he could wear, even with his so-called hipster clothes. It had a skull and the _Assassin’s Creed_ ‘A’ logo. I placed my order and hoped he would like it.

* * *

It wasn’t surprising at all how fast the days leading up to Christmas were flying by, as busy as it was. Some days were worse than others, and on a rare occasion, there were some good days. I was working with Christa, Connie, Marco and Levi one evening and had floor duty along with Christa and I actually witnessed one of these moments, if only partially—I had my own customers to help—but it was so nice to see that there were still people in the world that didn’t utterly suck and make me want to go on a rampage. A woman asked Christa about games for her six-year-old son and she not only actually took Christa’s advice to heart—you’d be surprised how many people come into the store and assumed our female staff is literally only there as eye candy and don’t actually know about games, which is, pardon my French, _fucking absurd_ in this day and age—but she _thanked_ her and I think I even heard her say that Christa was the most helpful person she’d met.

Moments like these helped get me through the complete, utter shit that is working retail during the holiday rush. The shift continued, and no one with a completely reprehensible attitude came in, so that was a plus… but as usual, recovery was rough. It boggled my mind how ridiculously messy people could be. This wasn’t just about them putting _DS_ game cases in the _PS3_ section; I mean, someone literally tried to pay with a dollar they found on the sidewalk outside that was covered in a mysterious, sticky substance (she claimed it was ice cream, but I didn’t blame Marco for being skeptical). Ultimately, we had to take the dollar, which just about made Levi want to vomit, because it was still valid currency. He put the offending piece of paper in a plastic zipper bag and I’m sure if he’d had access to it, he would have worn a hazmat suit the entire time. Then there were the random cans and foodstuffs that ended up in various places— _who leaves half of a tuna sandwich nestled in between strategy guides, anyway?_

We were finally able to clock out and everyone began to head their separate ways. Marco approached me, and I figured that he had to wait a while, since he usually rode with Jean, who was as of yet nowhere in sight.

“Hey, I heard you got your _PS3._ ” He said, “I wanted to exchange tags, in case you ever wanted to play something.”

“Oh, yeah! Sure, the more the merrier, right?” I smiled, “Mine’s pretty easy. It’s _jaegermeister19._ ”

“Oh, that is pretty simple to remember. Well, if you get a request from _HalfBot,_ that’s me… and if you want I can add you with Jean’s account too—he’s _WhatIsItN00b_.”

“Well, at least he can’t really make fun of my name with one like that, wow. Can I assume that there are zeroes in it?” I asked with a smirk. Marco sighed with an amused expression, in a ‘look, I don’t have to agree with everything my boyfriend does’ kind of way. “I’m just messing, you know. I know Jean’s not so bad.”

“And, believe it or not, he doesn’t hate you.” Marco replied.

“Well, that’s good to know.” I said. I noticed Christa had walked up to us near the end of our conversation.

“Oh, are you exchanging gamer tags?” she piped in, and we nodded. “I have a _PS3_ too! Add _HistoriaGoddess._ ”

“You wouldn’t happen to know Ymir’s, would you?” I asked, figuring I may as well get it if I could.

“Ah, well… it’s freckled titan, but spelled in shorthand. Just keep an eye out for hers, I’ll tell her to add you.”

“Alright, send the invites to _jaegermeister19._ ” I said.

“And _HalfBot._ I’ll get Jean to add you—he’s already got Ymir, I think. I know I do.” Marco added. We said our goodbyes after that, as Christa got into her Honda Fit and Jean rolled up in his Mustang to pick Marco up. Connie had disappeared a while back, so I figured he had something he needed to get to and Levi had been enjoying a cigarette against his car.  I walked over to my boyfriend and put my hands on his waist, planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Have fun playing with the other kids?” He asked, amused.

“Hey, you can never have too many _PSN_ friends, yeah?” I said. He shrugged.

“I guess not.”

“Hey, Levi..? Do you think we could, I don’t know… do something together?” I asked. He took the last drag of his cigarette, letting it drop to the asphalt to grind it out with his heel. I nuzzled his cheek, taking in the smell of cloves mixed with his cologne. “Mm, you smell so nice.”

“It’s _Lacoste White_.” He muttered absently, leaning into me. “I don’t know, what do you mean? Do something or… _do_ something?” I didn’t have to look at his face to know he had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Actually, I just meant like a date. I don’t know… a movie or something, maybe dinner? It doesn’t even have to be in public. I’d be okay with watching Netflix on your couch and eating your cooking.”

“Inviting yourself to my apartment, are we, brat?” He chuckled.

“So what if I am? I figure it’s the only way I’ll be invited at this rate.” I teased back.

“I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if you came over.” He agreed. “I’d say tonight, but it’s a bit short notice and there’s an embarrassing lack of food in my fridge at the moment.”

“Well, I didn’t expect it to be tonight. How about… your birthday? We’ll both be off.”

“I have a feeling you were planning this from the beginning… I suppose it’d be okay. It’s not like we have family to be with… but what about your sister?”

“She’ll be fine. We generally don’t do anything special outside of giving each other a small gift.”

“If you say so.” His hands rested on mine, “Mm, want me to drive you home?”

“Only if I get to kiss you goodnight.” I said.

“Deal.” He murmured, leaning in for what certainly wasn’t the last kiss we’d share before I made it to my apartment that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it seems short and slapdash, but I wanted to devote an entire chapter to their little Christmas date (it'll be the next one). I feel like nothing really happened here, but eh.


	9. Jingle All The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rating raised to explicit. Christmas couch sex~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to get this beta'd, but I was too excited to wait. So if there's any glaring issues (I have a penchant for missing whole words or adding whole words into sentences that make no sense) please let me know and I'll fix them. The ridiculous amount of fluff and domestic shit is completely necessary, ok? Hope you guys like the smut. It took me forever to write and I'm really self-conscious about it because my forte isn't necessarily first person fluffy(?) smut...

It was Christmas Eve, and the only reason I wasn’t blowing up at the customers who made my life a living hell was because I was too psyched about my date with Levi the next day. I was even humming carols to myself, which was odd of me, to say the least. I didn’t care. We closed early that evening because of the holiday and soon it’d be time for our date.

The air outside was cold and there was a slight wind as Erwin locked the door to the store. It had been me, him, Connie and Sasha for the final shift and Connie was offering Sasha a ride home; they had to be together by now, they just _had_ to be. She accepted and I noticed him opening the passenger door of his Ford Ranger for her. Yeah, they _had_ to be together.

“Well, you certainly seem twitter pated.” Erwin said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blushed and gaped at him, unable to find something to say to detract from his statement and he chuckled. “Calm down, Eren. I know.”

“Y-you do?” I stuttered, swallowing hard.

“It’s not hard to notice that both you and Levi are in better moods lately.” He answered, “And I know Levi. So don’t worry. The only person who’d have a problem is Nile.” Nile Dawk was our district manager… and for some reason, his comment of knowing Levi struck me a certain way; I felt a twinge of jealousy towards my boss. Yeah, he _knew_ Levi alright. I pushed that away, though.

“B-but what if he—”

“He won’t. He’s… how did Levi put it… ‘the most fucking idiotic moron to ever exist?’ Something like that. Nile’s… oblivious.” Erwin put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. “Plus, I know Levi. He wouldn’t let a relationship change his work ethic.” There it was again… he _knew_ Levi. I wasn’t really sure why it was affecting me so much. Hanji _knew_ Levi too… but Erwin was so handsome and perfect and probably huge and _why was I getting flustered about this right now?_ I mentally stomped down my jealousy once again, in an effort to have a normal conversation with my boss.

“Yeah well, I don’t want other people like Jean or Ymir to think I get things handed to me just because he and I are together. I mean, he’s a manager and shit.” I muttered.

“I doubt they would, but I can respect that. In any case, I wanted to offer you a ride home, it’s a bit cold and I understand you don’t live too far.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

* * *

That night was fairly uneventful. Mikasa and I decided to exchange gifts before bed. She presented me with a gift bag and I held up a poorly wrapped box and we both laughed.

“I should learn from you and use bags, I’m the absolute worst at wrapping.” I said, pulling the tissue paper out and peering inside to see what she’d gotten me. I pulled out a copy of _Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood_ and was somewhat flabbergasted. “You didn’t have to—”

“Eren, you _know_ that game only costs, like, ten dollars.” Mikasa rolled her eyes. “You’ve been playing the other one, I figured you and your boyfriend could do the online together in this one or something.”

“Yeah but now I feel like what I got you is lame in comparison.” I pouted. Mikasa shot me a cynical stare, as she opened my gift. I was pleasantly surprised to see her eyes light up as she pulled a thick red scarf from the box and immediately wrap it around her neck.

“What are you talking about, Eren? I love it.” She whispered, “It’s just like the one I had when I was a kid…”

“I’m glad you like it.” I said, “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Eren.” She repeated, pulling me in for a hug.

* * *

Christmas day, Levi came to pick me up fairly early in the afternoon. I greeted him with a hug and a kiss and he murmured a hello into my neck. We got into his car and he drove us to his apartment, which was in a nicer part of town, but not by much. It was newer than mine and Mikasa’s, in any case. We got out of his car and I grabbed my bag—where I’d brought his gift and some other stuff I thought I might need—and followed him up the stairs to his front door. As he was searching through his keys, I was struck with a sudden boldness and leaned over to nibble on his ear a little; he nearly dropped the keys and gave me a sidelong stare.

“Eren… can we at least get inside the door before you start eating my face? It’s colder than an abominable snowman’s balls out here.” He asked with mock irritation. I chuckled, but nodded and let him open the door and usher me inside.

Levi’s apartment was pristine, which I’d come to expect by now. Nothing was out of place, everything was spotless. I was sure it looked like the model—no, _better_ than the model apartment landlords let people tour before they signed the lease. I noticed a miniature Christmas tree on the coffee table and figured that he’d never really seen the point in buying anything bigger than that. That was about it for decorations, and all things considered, it seemed about right for him. The air smelled faintly of oranges and cloves and I noticed there was a pot of homemade potpourri sitting on the stove when he went to turn it back on. Maybe Hanji had been onto something when she called him ‘perfect housewife material’ after all. I let out a soft laugh.

“What’s so funny, brat?” Levi asked as he bent over to get something out of a drawer. It was an apron; he was going to put on an apron and I couldn’t help it.

“You really are perfect housewife material.” I snickered, and he gave me a look. “Sorry, but it’s just… true.”

“I wasn’t aware that having a clean home and not wanting to get one’s clothes fucked up while cooking made me a housewife.” He said sarcastically. I put my bag down and hugged him from behind.

“It’s not a bad thing. If anything, I think it’s incredibly sexy.” I whispered, as I nibbled on his neck.

“Eren…” his tone was a bit on the breathy side, “I thought you wanted a romantic date? Go pick out a movie and stop distracting me for a bit. As much as I’d _love_ to just take you on the counter right now, I need to start cooking.”  I let him go, but not before kissing his cheek.

“Actually, I thought we could listen to some music I found.” I said, rummaging through my bag until I found the flash drive I’d put all the music on. “I don’t have an iPod or anything, but I figured we could just play it through the _PS3._ ”

“What is it?” He asked, pulling out some pots and pans.

“Alternative Christmas songs.” I replied, wandering over to his entertainment center. “You know, like _Punk Goes Christmas_ and such.”

“Sure, put it on.” He said while he pulled out a bunch of ingredients and put them on the counter.

“What are you making, anyway?” I asked as I fiddled with the controller and turned on the console.

“You’ll see.” He said in a sing-song voice. I plugged the flash drive into the console and got the music going, then walked over to the small kitchen; Levi had a couple of Cornish hens in the sink, a medley of fresh herbs and spices—I could recognize the smell of rosemary and basil—carrots, leeks, potatoes and an onion.

“Need any help?” I asked, hovering over his shoulder.

“This kitchen is cramped as it is, Eren. Besides, what’s your cooking experience? Easy Mac? I don’t think so.” I huffed indignantly, but he turned his face and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “Just leave this to me, ok baby?” and turned back to his chopping board. I opted to stand at the other side of the counter and watch him. He chopped up everything but the potatoes and I watched as he carefully seasoned the hens and stuffed them with the vegetable mixture, placing them on a greased pan. He turned to wash the raw chicken juice off of his hands in the sink before putting them in the oven.  Next, he quartered the potatoes and arranged them on another pan, sprinkling them with the herb mixture and olive oil and washed his hands again.

“Where did you learn to cook?” I asked, absently.

“My mother.”

“You should tell me about her sometime.”

“Some other time.  My childhood wasn’t very happy, as I’ve hinted before. I don’t want to ruin our date with my shitty past.” He said, putting the potatoes into the oven as well. He went ahead and cleaned the kitchen, putting everything away and took off his apron, folding it neatly and stashing it back in its drawer. “We’ve got about an hour or so and the food will be ready. I hope it’s not too early in the day for dinner.”

“It’s fine.” I said, “Do you want to swap gifts?”

“Why not?” He answered. He went to get mine as I looked through my bag and got his—also poorly wrapped—and when he got back to me, we traded.

“Open yours first.” I said, practically bouncing and he quirked an eyebrow at me, but obliged me anyway as he ripped the paper off and opened the box within to find the belt buckle.

“Oh, wow.” He said, picking it up and examining it.

“You know, the first thing you ever said around me was your name and your favorite game.”

“You smarmy little shit.” He said, with a small smile. “Open yours now… but it’s probably not as thoughtful as this.” I unwrapped the small box and opened it to find a small pendant. It was shaped like a badge with two stylized wings laid on top of each other over it.

“It’s beautiful, what does it mean?”

“They’re the wings of freedom.” He answered, “Because you make me feel finally free… or something. I’ll be honest; I just thought it looked cool. There’s no real deep meaning.”

“But there is... you saw this and you thought of me. That’s deep enough.” I replied.

“I repeat—you are one smarmy little shit.” He punctuated this statement with a quick kiss, which I deepened by pulling him close. We made our way to his couch and kissed and cuddled lazily while the music played in the background. It seemed like no time at all when the timer on the oven dinged.

Dinner was delicious. He said it was a version of a traditional French Christmas meal with the potatoes added simply because he felt like it. I certainly didn’t mind, it was all so good. After dinner, he brought out a delicious looking cake with whipped white icing and strawberries and a small slab of chocolate that read ‘Merry Christmas’ on it.

“We should put some candles on it, since it’s also your birthday.” I said.

“Ugh, no. I’m old enough now that I don’t even want to think about what kind of fire hazard it would be to put fucking candles on a cake. Besides, this is a _Christmas_ cake.” He retorted, cutting two slices; the inside looked like angel food cake. He handed me one and took the other, and I dug in.

“Oh wow, this is really good.” I said; it was moist and fluffy and utterly perfect. “Why didn’t you, I don’t know, become a chef?”

“Have you seen _Hell’s Kitchen_?” He countered, “I don’t want to deal with that. This is just a hobby for me.”

“Well, I hope I get to eat your cooking for years to come.” I commented as we finished out dessert. Unable to decide on anything on Netflix, we ended up watching whatever was on TV for a while when I felt a hand slowly trailing up my leg.

“Feeling frisky?” I asked and he rolled his eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he murmured. “I know you want to take it slow, but I’d really like to… make love to you.”

I gulped at his choice of words; he hadn’t said ‘fuck’ or ‘have sex.’ He wanted this to be special. I decided to answer in kind (even if it was a little cliché), “Then show me, Levi. Show me how much you love me.”

He smiled and slowly leaned over to kiss me. His kisses were soft, full and gentle. His hands were on me, pulling me close, thumb stroking my cheek, then trailing around, fingers cupping my head to deepen the kiss. He moved to straddle me on the couch, one hand moved to rest on the small of my back and a small sigh of contentment escaped me before I kissed back. He licked my bottom lip, gently pushing his tongue inside and another little sigh of yearning came from my throat. My hands grasped his body, trying to pull him closer, but he pulled back.

“I want to take this as slow as we’re able to stand…” he said, still very close to my face. I could feel his breath on my lips as I looked into his eyes.

“I want this to last forever.” I replied, my voice a breathy whisper. I didn’t care if we sounded like every romance ever; all that mattered was this moment Levi and I were having. He was on me again, kissing me slowly, sensually, undoing my very being. His hands moved over me, pressing and teasing various places he knew would drive me wild. He kissed a trail from my mouth to the juncture of my ear.

“If I recall, this is that spot that turns you into a writhing mess.” He whispered as he began to nip at it. A flush went through me and I could already feel a familiar throbbing in my pants.

“Le…vi…” I sighed, my hips rolling into his. “Need… more…” I whimpered; he let out a breathy laugh against my neck, and a hand wandered down to the crotch of my pants, pressing against it rhythmically. Oh _god._ My hips moved into his hand and I was quickly losing patience. My hands cupped his ass and squeezed it, trying to get his hips closer to mine, but his hand was still in the way—our clothes were still in the way—and I whined. “Please…”

“That didn’t take long at all…” he said with in a low voice, leaning back up for a deep kiss. His hand moved back up to hold my face and our hips crashed together; I could feel his hardness through our jeans and that caused me to gasp. I squeezed his ass again, this time rolling my hips at the same time and forced a little sound out of him. I pulled back from his kisses for a moment and stared at him with what I was sure was an extremely lustful stare.

“I want you… please…” I whispered, my face hot, but certainly not from embarrassment. Wordlessly, he kissed me again, nibbling on my bottom lip, sliding his tongue into my mouth as I melted into it. I felt his hand meander down to the hem of my shirt, gently making its way underneath to tease my skin; his touches left me trembling, aching for more. My hips were moving again, hands grasping at his back, trying to get some friction where I needed it most when I felt his fingers brush over one of my nipples. A high pitched whine wrenched itself from my throat as I arched into the touch, which sent shivers through me. He teased me like this for a while, switching to the other side, lightly pinching from time to time, until I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore and I pushed away from him.

“Like that..?” He asked, licking his lips and brushing his fingers down from my chest to my stomach.

“Y-yes, but…” I sighed between erratic breaths, “I need you now.”

“Is that so?” He chuckled. His hands were suddenly unzipping my pants and reaching inside to touch me. I bit my lip when I felt fingers brush over where I had so desperately needed them, my hips moving of their own accord towards the touch. He leaned back slightly and I whimpered at the slight loss of contact, my hips coming off the couch enough for him to push my pants and underwear down. The throbbing between my legs only intensified when he started to position his face just inches away from my cock, and he looked up at me as he softly puffed air on the head.

“Levi— _please!_ ” I moaned, my cock twitching from the teasing. I watched as he slowly swirled his tongue over the tip, then kiss along the underside with a little suck here and there. A low groan escaped me when he finally started to take me into his mouth inch by agonizingly slow inch. “Ah… _fuck_ …” I sighed, caught between wanting him to move faster and keeping his current pace. His tongue felt amazing; his whole mouth felt utterly amazing. He sucked and bobbed, pressing the flat of his tongue along my length as we went. Sometimes, he’d pull back and tease just the head, tonguing the slit, making me cry out in a strangled voice before plunging me completely back into his mouth. I had never felt anything quite as good as this. “Levi…” I sighed, fingers carding through his black hair, pulling it slightly. He let out a low moan at that, and I shuddered slightly at the vibrations against my cock. That was when he pulled off. I gave him a questioning look.

“Don’t worry, I’m nowhere near done.” He said, voice low. He produced a small bottle of lube and a condom from his pocket and I swallowed hard. I kicked my pants off the rest of the way and he positioned me on my stomach, knees propped, my upper body leaning over the armrest. I shivered again, when I felt his warm breath on the nape of my neck and he kissed me there, nibbling gently, before trailing light kisses down my spine. “It might hurt and feel weird… but trust me.” He said and I heard him rustle behind me; his hands teased my ass, touching me lightly from my thighs and teasing my balls as more needy sounds came from me.

“Please just…” I sighed, “Levi…”

My eyes widened a bit when I felt finger tips brush over my entrance, a single cool, wet finger pressing gently against it. A somewhat choked sound came from me as it slowly slid inside, and I adjusted to the slight burning sensation. It wasn’t particularly painful; he began sliding his finger in and out, slowly, letting me get adjusted to the intrusion before I felt a second finger work its way inside. I let out a quiet sigh, pushing back some, muttering his name. He spread his fingers, opening me up and preparing me. The burning intensified slightly, but I was getting to a point where I was enjoying the slight pain. It wasn’t much longer until he worked a third finger in… and then he curled them and a shock ran through me, causing my back to arch and a cry to escape me.

“Looks like I found it…” he mused, pushing his fingers into the same spot a few more times, making my body ache for him.

“Please, _please_ … I want you… not your fingers…” I whimpered, “I want your… cock… _please_.”

“Mm, I don’t think I can say no when you beg like _that._ ” He said, removing his fingers. I let out another soft cry at the sudden emptiness as he prepared himself to enter me. Slowly—and I mean achingly so—he pushed into my body. A loud moan wrenched itself from me and he groaned almost in unison. “Shit… you’re tight…” he sighed. When he was fully inside, he paused so that I could adjust to being so filled. I figured that it was on me to let him know when I was ready to move, so after a few moments, I wiggled my hips against him and made a high pitched, needy sound. He drew back slowly and pushed back in, and in and I gasped as the friction began. Levi eventually established a slow, sensual rhythm, pushing in as deeply as he possibly could, lighting my nerves up with the most amazing sensations.

“Fuck… Levi… yes…” I gasped, matching his rhythm as best as I could. He altered his angle slightly and another pleasurable shock ran through me, making my toes curl and my breath hitch. “…Again…” I breathed, and he let out a soft chuckle as he indulged me. Each time he hit it, it was as though my mind whited out as I shuddered and I craved it more and more. I felt my release beginning to build up, and he began to gradually increase the speed and roughness of his thrusts.

“Eren… god… fuck…” he moaned, his hand reaching around and wrapping fingers loosely around my neglected cock. I let out a keening sound, my hips snapped back and forth in time with his movements, enhancing the shocks coursing through me at that moment. His strokes were drawing me closer and closer and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before we both lost ourselves.

“Nn, yes… Levi… so good…” I gasped as we continued moving closer to the tipping point. A few moments later, I came with a loud yelp and he soon followed, my name slipping from his lips. We collapsed onto the couch in a boneless heap, with him on top of me as we tried to regulate our breathing.

“That was… wow.” I sighed contentedly. “H-happy birthday.” I added.

“You… dork.” He said in a breathless laugh, “Merry Christmas.”

* * *

When the euphoria of post-orgasmic bliss passed, I shot up and nearly toppled us both over. Levi elbowed me and shot me a look.

“Um…” I began, swallowing nervously. “I might have ruined your couch?”

“Don’t be an idiot. The covers come off the cushions. I can wash them.” He mumbled, and I was genuinely surprised by how easygoing he was being about something like this.

“Oh. Okay.” I said, “Still, it’s kind of crusty and gross to lie on.”

“Well you should have thought of that before letting me do you on the couch.” He snapped back playfully. “We should move to the bedroom anyway. You brought a change of clothes, right? Stay the night. Don’t we have the same shift tomorrow?”

“Good point, but wouldn’t it be suspicious if we showed up together?”

“As if anyone will notice—managers have to be in half an hour early. They’ll just think you were a few minutes early yourself. Stop worrying about it.”

I’d save talking about Erwin’s knowledge for a later time. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to cuddle with him in his bed… and maybe a little more exploration of his body. The night was still young, after all.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The afterword type thing is mostly just there to deal with Eren coming all over his couch cushions. And because I like silly shit.


	10. Roaches Against Humanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disgusting customer has to be kicked out the store, there's a New Year's party at Erwin's and they play CAH.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't get this beta'd, so if there's anything really glaring, please let me know.

Things between Levi and I were amazing. I mean, sure, I was still trying to keep the whole thing hush-hush because I didn’t want to hear it from the others, even though Erwin knew and Hanji knew and, as it turns out, Mike and Petra knew—my guess was that they heard it from a certain loud mouthed fangirl with glasses. I randomly got friend requests from _SmellUL8er_ and _CallMeAerith_ … who turned out to be Mike and Petra respectively and that’s when they both congratulated our relationship. You’d think we were getting married or something with how happy they were for Levi and me... I didn’t really know how to react. I did mention to them that I didn’t really want this to get out too much, for the same reasons I had explained to Erwin when he confronted me about it and they were both understanding.

The last few weeks of the year were going by fast and I learned that Erwin was planning another party for New Year’s. Levi and I were lounging around his place one night after work when he casually mentioned it.

“I’m sure this is completely unexpected,” He started sarcastically, “But our fearless leader is throwing another party for New Year’s.”

“I’m so shocked.” I said absently, my fingers entwined with his as we watched prime time TV. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

“He wants me to make something, as usual.” At this, I perked up.

“Oh, what did you have in mind?” I snuggled closer to his warmth.

“Dunno. Some kind of cake.”

“My mom used to always make a Bundt cake for New Year’s. She said it symbolized that we’d come full circle.” I said, reminiscing on a happier memory of my childhood.

“Whoa, you might actually have something there.” He sat up, putting his arm around my shoulder and squeezing it. “Maybe I can do a red velvet one with cream cheese icing.”

“I can’t wait to taste it.”

“That’s what she said.” He said it, and I groaned exaggeratedly. I had rapidly learned, after spending more time with him outside of work, that Levi had a horrible sense of humor. Not in the sense that the jokes were gory or dark, but in the sense that the more terrible the pun, the more overused the joke… the more he found it funny; he also had a weakness for toilet humor, but I pretty much already knew that. “You walked right the fuck into that.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I leaned my head on his shoulder, he leaned over and kissed my forehead. We continued cuddling each other in comfortable silence, the TV chattering on in the background. Every so often, he’d run his fingers through my hair and I’d let out a contented sigh.

* * *

New Year’s was a few days away, and while the main rush had died down—the holidays having been over and done with—there was still a slightly higher influx. Mostly kids who had gotten gift cards and people who needed to do returns or exchanges… but it wasn’t nearly as annoying. Not a lot had been happening; at least, nothing worth mentioning, but that was short-lived.

We had a guy come in, wanting to trade his _Xbox360._ He set it on the counter, and I began the process of testing it when a large, black cockroach crawled out from under the system. I jumped back, more from surprise than anything else.

“What the—” Levi’s voice was low, dangerous, like he’d just seen something extremely offensive. He grabbed one of the magazines we had placed around the counter to entice people into getting a subscription, rolled it up, and swiftly brought it down on the insect, killing it instantly. “I’m sorry sir, we can’t take this.”

“What d’you mean you can’t take it? It works.” The man said indignantly. “You ain’t even tested it yet.”

“Do me a favor sir, and please look at our trade in policy; it’s right there, on the counter.” He waited for the man to start reading it, “Do you see where it says we have the right to refuse any trade in? Yeah, I’m exercising that right. We won’t take this system.”

“And why not?” the man asked, getting irritated. I had stepped back to watch the exchange as soon as Levi had swooped in, and it was at this time that I actually got a good look at the customer; he was _filthy_. I could see a ring of grease around his neck from the severe lack of hygiene, missing teeth, sunken eyes. The shirt he was wearing was covered in sweat and what I hoped were food stains, and there was another roach _crawling up his neck._ I felt like I was about to be physically ill—how do you not notice bugs _crawling on your body!?_ I suddenly started feeling prickling sensations all over my own body, as if I was the one suffering from the infestation.

“Because I don’t need to give you a reason.” Levi said curtly. “Please take your system and leave.”

“Not until you tell me why you ain’t takin’ it.”

“Nowhere in the policy does it say I need to tell you why. Please leave, or I’ll have the police escort you out.” With this threat, Levi made a show of grabbing the cordless phone and making like he was about to start dialing. The man grunted angrily, grabbed his system and shoved it back into the dingy duffel bag he’d brought it in, and stormed out the door.

“Don’t think you’ll get away with this, ya homo.” He called as he went, slamming the door closed behind him.

“Well, that was uncalled for _and_ wrong… I’m pansexual.” Levi said drily, cocking an eyebrow. Learn something new every day. I watched as he quickly began to inspect the counter where the disgusting thing had been, presumably to check for any stray roaches. He sprayed some Lysol for good measure, wiping down the whole counter thoroughly.

“That was gross, even for me.” I commented. It was at this point that Ymir came out from the backroom, having finished her break and noticed Levi scrubbing furiously at the counter.

“Did I miss something?”

“Only the most fucking disgusting motherfucker in all of creation.” Levi muttered.

“This dude had roaches _literally_ crawling on him.” I added, “I’m fairly sure he’s never been acquainted with a bath tub, let alone a washing machine.”

“Fucking gross, man.” Ymir made a face.

“Yeah tell me something I don’t know. That shitty basement dweller better not show his face here again until he discovers indoor plumbing.”

* * *

Before I knew it, it was New Year’s Eve. The store had closed early and would open late the next morning, so Erwin had planned the party for that night. I was once again able to bring Mikasa along, though this time Levi was the one to drive us. We arrived at Erwin’s house and Levi parked behind his ’68 Charger. I noticed we were among the first to get there, the only other car there was Mike’s hatchback. We went to the front door, and Levi felt around in one of the decorative planters for a spare key and opened the door, barging on in; I guessed this was just a perk of knowing someone for as long as they must’ve known each other. I felt a little bit of jealousy flaring up, but managed to quell it… this whole jealous-of-Erwin thing needed to stop. I should know better—if Levi had wanted to be with Erwin, he would still be with him, but it wasn’t just that… I wasn’t jealous simply in that way. Part of it was just knowing that Erwin knew my boyfriend better than I did. I needed to rectify this.

“Paging Commander Dickbutt!” Levi called out, announcing his presence.

“I’m in the kitchen.” Erwin’s voice drifted towards us. We followed Levi and found Erwin and Mike setting up the last few favors. There was a punch bowl and a selection of snacks from candies to chips set up much like at the Halloween party. Levi set down the cake he’d made, removing the protective covering to show Erwin his handiwork.

“Eren’s idea, since we’ve made another full circle.” He said, pulling me into a half-hug.

“That’s pretty clever.” Erwin smiled warmly. “It looks delicious.”

“Of course it does, _I_ fucking made it.”

We helped finish setting up the snacks and Erwin handed out some party hats and glasses emblazoned with 2014 and _a lot_ of glitter. I don’t think anything could have ever prepared me for the sight of Levi in brightly colored slatted shades and a glittery black hat. I tried to hold back, but eventually succumbed to the giggle attack that ensued.

“The fuck is so funny?”

“You… you look… ridiculous…” I gasped out between laughs. He grabbed me and pulled me close, his lips just barely brushing against my ear.

“Not as ridiculous as you look when I make you scream my name.” He whispered, a small amused smirk adorning his face. My face went red as a jolt went through me and I coughed. He roughly placed a sparkly, green hat on my head and walked away, shooting a smug expression at me.

“You’re so unfair.” I said under my breath as I grabbed a pair of shades and put them on as well before following him into the den.

Within the half hour, the rest of the guests arrived. This time, Erwin had let others besides myself invite plus ones and I recognized a few of our regulars. The blond in the white hoodie (did she have a closet full of white hoodies?), the tall guy with the black hair and the buff blond guy, to name a few. I heard that it was Sasha and Connie who invited them, and that their names were Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner, respectively. I also noticed Erd and Gunther were there, but Auruo was conspicuously absent; my guess was that Petra had invited them. I felt somewhat bad for him, but he was kind of a huge douche. Mikasa made quick friends with Annie, and it seemed like they had quite a bit in common. I was happy to see her socializing.

“Hey everyone!” Hanji’s voice cut through the crowd moments later. “Who wants to play _Cards Against Humanity_?” That seemed to animate quite a few people in the room and I decided it would be worth my while to see what all the commotion was about. I found Levi and nudged him with my elbow.

“What’s _Cards Against Humanity_?”

“Wait, you don’t know? Holy shit, Eren… well, have you ever played _Apples to Apples_?”

“My family wasn’t the… game night type.” I answered.

“Oh, because _Cards Against Humanity_ is basically _Apples to Apples,_ only with an NC-17 rating.” Levi grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry, it’s not hard to pick up… but I should warn you, I’m the fucking _master_ of this game.”

* * *

We had been playing _Cards Against Humanity_ for a while, and Levi was right—it wasn’t hard to understand the premise at all. Erwin’s take was that the Card Czar (the round’s judge) had to read the black card before reading the white cards and I have to admit, actually hearing this stuff aloud definitely made the winning card combination more apparent.

It was my turn to judge, “Blank will never be the same after blank.” I began, “God will never be the same after Blackula… pictures of boobs… oh god—will never be the same after a …stray pube…” I paused, snickers were erupting from around the table. “The Chinese gymnastics team will never be the same after …synergistic management solutions..? Hanji, please.”

“It wasn’t me! I swear!” she squawked, but was laughing anyway. I read a few more combinations, laughing here and there, but the last one… it utterly slayed me.

“Jeff Goldblum will never be… oh my fuck…” I was already chuckling at the cards in my hand, “the s-same… after… oh god..!” I laughed loudly, “Getting hilariously gang-banged by the—HA HA HA OH MY GOD—the Blue Man gr-group!” I practically fell over laughing, that was definitely the winning combination. “Okay, Blue Man Group wins.” I cried, between peals of laughter.

“FUCK YEAH.” Levi crowed, “I told you, I’m fucking boss at this game.”  

“I don’t know if that’s something you want to be proud of.” Erwin pointed out, “It means you’re the most horrible out of all of us.”

“Says the guy who just played ‘ _my sex dungeon will never be the same after the biggest, blackest dick_.’” Levi quipped. Erwin shrugged.

“Yeah, and it didn’t win.” He gave Levi a look that said _your point?_ To which Levi rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.

In the end, Levi did win. I supposed that the tagline of the game was true— _a party game for horrible people_. I hadn’t had that much fun with a card game… well, ever, since I’d never really played anything besides _Gin_ or _Rummy 500_. Hanji took pictures of some of the funnier winning combinations with her phone so she could post them on her blog later, she said.

“One minute ‘til midnight!” Sasha cried and everyone turned to the TV, which had been playing the New Year’s special in the background. While everyone was preoccupied with that, I felt a tug on my sleeve and turned to look at Levi, who nodded towards the guest room—the very guest room where we’d had our first kind-of kiss—and pulled me in its direction. We ducked inside and he pressed me against the door.

“I want my New Year’s kiss, damnit.” He muttered, “But I know you don’t want everyone to know about us, so…”

“Funny that it’s happening in here, huh?” I mused. Levi smirked. We heard everyone outside start counting down with the TV.

“Ten!” Levi leaned up on his tiptoes, breathing onto my neck as he chuckled.

“Nine!” I let out a slight whimper, feeling my body start to react.

“Eight!” His hands were roaming over my chest, trailing downwards.

“Seven!” I shivered when he nibbled at my neck.

“Six!” His hand cupped my ass, giving it a playful squeeze.

“Five!” I pushed my body into his with a low groan.

“Four!” He kissed me in that spot he knew I liked, just under my ear.

“Three!” I whimpered his name needily.

“Two!” My knee nudged him between the legs.

“One!” He began to trail kisses over to my mouth.

“Happy New Year…” he whispered, kissing me passionately, his hands roaming over me. I whimpered into the kiss, feeling my pants tighten and my heartbeat flutter. He pushed his tongue into my mouth and I felt like I was melting into him. My hands trailed down his back, squeezing his waist, settling on his firm ass. God, I loved squeezing it. I hoisted him up and pushed back from the door and his legs wrapped around my waist, hips pushing against mine. Then, he was the one with his back pressed to the door as I hungrily kissed him, my hands still pressing him against me.

A knock on the door caused us to freeze, however.

“It’s me.” Mikasa’s voice drifted through the wood. “You guys might want to come out before the others start noticing you’re missing.” She had a point, but I was internally whining about not wanting to stop now.

“We’ll finish this later.” Levi whispered promisingly, “Don’t you worry your stupid little head.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha I know. I know. Cock blocked again. I’m a sucker for it. No worries, I’m gonna write more smut at some point. I just didn’t want it two chapters in a row? Or something. I’ll probably do some side chapters and add them to the series, so if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the [entire series](http://archiveofourown.org/series/59774) if you want to get the notifs for those as well.
> 
> As for Hanji taking photos of the winning cards, I might try to make some doodles of those at some point. The key word here is ‘might,’ I already have a ton of shit on my plate right now. I want to do so much art and fic and I’ve only got so much time, so I’m sorry if it takes me forever to finish anything, I really am.
> 
> I have this headcanon where Levi insults Eren as an endearment, so calling Eren “stupid” is more like saying “honey.” It's dumb, I know, but yeah I promise he's not being mean.


	11. A Dose of Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get serious, and not necessarily in a good way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me. It seemed like high time for a bit of seriousness. Too excited to get this beta'd, sorry for any mistakes.

“It’s all gone… everything’s _gone_.” My voice trembled over the phone as tears stung my eyes. My body felt numb, and suddenly I felt like I was outside, looking in. Like this was all just some horrible nightmare and I’d just wake up, safe and sound in the end… but it was real. Tears ran down my face as I watched firemen and other emergency personnel rush about the scene, making sure no one was still inside the burning building. A couple of weeks into the new year, and it was already starting out _fucking fantastically._

“But you’re okay, right? Your sister’s okay, right?” Levi’s voice brought me back.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” I glanced over at Mikasa to make sure, because I was still in a state of disbelief. “She’s here. We’re fine. We’re alive.”

“Good, that’s the important thing.” I knew what he would say next, because everyone always says it; _at least you have your lives. The material things can be replaced._ And I knew it, I really did. I didn’t really have much to begin with, but I wasn’t really worried about my _PlayStation_ or the TV or our crappy silverware or… any of it. I was worried about all the pictures of my mother from the days when she was happy and _alive._ I was upset that now the only way I would see her face again was in my memories. We didn’t have a backup of those anywhere (since I was sure the computer was a smoldering pile by now), and a majority had been taken on film cameras when I was a child and before digital photography was even mainstream… and even if the negatives were still around, it meant dad had them… and after running away from him for so long, I wasn’t really too keen on trying to look _him_ up again. I let out a soft whine and cried. I just let it out, and I didn’t care who was watching (or listening).

“Eren… everything will be okay. I promise.” Levi’s voice came through the phone that was still pressed against my ear. “Do you two need a place to stay?”

“Yeah.” I sniffled; I sounded pathetic, but it didn’t even matter.

“I’ll come pick you up.” He said, and the line went dead. I absently flipped the phone shut and let my arm fall limply to my side. I still couldn’t believe what was happening. It’s not like it was uncommon; apartment fires were, unfortunately, a thing that happened.

“Levi’s offered us a place for the night.” I mumbled as I sidled up to Mikasa. She made a noncommittal sound, and we continued to watch as the firefighters did their best to tame the fire and rescue anyone else who needed to be. I was sure there’d be some explanation, perhaps someone’s cooking caught fire or someone fell asleep with a burning cigarette or whatever. From what we’d overheard so far, it didn’t seem like it had been intentional at all.

Roughly fifteen minutes later I noticed Levi walking towards us and I was suddenly crying again. It was as though every opening on my face was leaking and I knew I looked disgusting, but somehow he was able to hug me to him and let me make a mess on his shoulder.

“Come on. Let’s go home.” He whispered into my hair and I nodded, pulling back and wiping my face with my sleeve. Mikasa and I followed him solemnly to his car and got in, and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to lighten the mood at all or not, but he gave me a pointed look and said, “you’d better not get any snot on my interior, so help me…” and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

I needed that, some semblance of normalcy. A sign that things could go back to how they were.

“Thanks, Levi.”

“This… this is what boyfriends do, right?” He shrugged. “It’s no big.”

* * *

It turned out that the sofa—yes, the same sofa we’d… had sex on—was a sleeper. I felt my face burn and I stared at Levi, who stared back and shrugged his shoulders in a way that I took to mean _well what do you want me to do about it?_ It wasn’t like he had an extra bed besides that one and it wasn’t like I wanted to force them to share a bed. I supposed that I could’ve shared the bed with Mikasa, but I couldn’t help but feel a little selfish in wanting to spend the night cuddled up to Levi.

“Eren, I don’t care. I really don’t. In fact, the less you make those faces, the better. The last thing I needed was mental images of you two doing it on this sofa—I’m guessing that’s what’s got you so flustered.” Mikasa cut right to the chase. “And I promise, I don’t care. I just want to sleep. I have to be at work in a few hours.”

“You’re still going to go to work? You should take a personal day.” I blurted, and she shook her head.

“We’ll need the money. I’m not injured, so it’s ok.” She sat on the edge of the fold out mattress, and looked up at me with a reassuring smile. “There’s a bus stop near here, right?” she directed her question at Levi, who nodded. “Good. And thanks again, Levi. You’re a pretty stand up guy after all.”

“I do what I can.” He replied nonchalantly. “Come on, Eren. You should try to get some rest.”

* * *

At least three times during the night, I woke up with a start imagining I could smell smoke or otherwise certain that there was another fire burning. Each time, I’d sit straight up in the bed and whip my head around, sniffing, listening for a fire alarm, anything. Each time, Levi would pull me down and hold me and explain to me how he was always meticulously on top of changing his smoke alarm’s batteries and making sure his extinguishers weren’t outdated and had every single thing up to code while hugging his body to mine. I don’t know how he knew, but this served as probably the best way to calm my nerves and I’d snuggle into his chest and eventually fall back asleep. It was a good thing neither of us worked the next day, because I couldn’t speak for Levi, but I knew I hadn’t rested well at all and the last thing anyone needed was a cranky Eren dealing with shitty customers.

When I finally did wake up for good, I noticed that Levi wasn’t even in the bed anymore and that I could smell something sweet in the air. I jumped out of bed and washed up and did all my morning routine stuff as fast as possible, following my nose out to the living room.

“Good to see you up.” Levi said, dressed in only his pajama bottoms and the apron. I won’t lie, it was a fairly attractive sight and I couldn’t stop myself from flushing just a little bit (mostly because—at first—I thought he was _only_ wearing the apron… I’d have to get him to do that eventually).

“Smells delicious.”

“I hope you like crepes.” He said, carefully flipping the thin pastry in the frying pan.

“I’ve had them at IHOP before, I think.” I was fairly certain that I had tried them at least once; they were those paper-thin pancakes, usually served with fruit, or something.

“My crepe game is stronger than IHOP’s.” Levi replied, and I could hear the sly smile in his voice. I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Why am I not surprised?”

We sat down at the table after he finished up, and I was delighted to see that the crepes were topped with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. He really did spoil me sometimes… and I was thankful. After an awful night of watching everything I owned smolder to ashes, it was nice to have him looking out for me. We ate in comfortable silence for a while; as was expected of Levi’s handiwork, the crepes were perfect, thin but not too crispy. I’d stopped wondering why he hadn’t gone for culinary school because I realized that I liked being one of the few people who got to enjoy his cooking. It was like having your own personal five star chef, and I wasn’t about to share him with the world.

“You two didn’t have renter’s insurance, did you?”

“We couldn’t exactly afford it.” I sighed. “It’s okay, though. I can get my things replaced eventually. Well, most of them, anyway…” I trailed off, tears stinging my eyes again when I remembered that the photo albums were gone.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“I’ll never be able to look at her face again, Levi. I—I’ll only be able to remember it, but the pictures are gone. Those were the only pictures I had of her.” It was as though a flood gate had been opened and I started bawling again. Levi sat silently across from me, and I could see some pain reflected in his grey-blue eyes. He was empathizing with me. “Mom…” I sobbed, “I miss you mom… I wanna see your face…” my words were less and less intelligible as I blubbered, tears streaking my cheeks. I hadn’t noticed Levi was up until strong arms wrapped around me, hugging me firmly. He was making shushing noises as he rocked me back and forth and I could feel my body start to relax.

“I miss mine, too.” He said, and I nuzzled my face into his neck.

“Tell me about her?” I asked, wiping my face with my sleeve.

“Telling you about her requires me to talk about _him._ ” The way he said ‘him’ was the most caustic, acidic tone I’d ever heard anyone utter and I shivered slightly, but didn’t relent.

“I wanna know everything about you, though.” I insisted; I knew I was being a bit selfish, but I really wanted to know.

“Fine… but are you sure you want to hear this when you’re upset? I should wait—”

“It’s okay. I promise.” I cut him off before he could try to avoid the topic again. He frowned, got up and grabbed our plates, taking them to soak in the sink as I followed him with my eyes. He leaned against the counter and sighed.

“I’ve… mentioned before that my real last name isn’t ‘Heichou.’” He began, “And that I’m half Japanese, yeah?” I nodded in response to his question and he continued after another sigh, “The sperm donor who I refuse to call my father came from a fairly affluent Japanese family of doctors. His name’s James Kimura—so yeah, my actual last name’s Kimura. Mother’s name's Marie. She said they met in med school when she was studying to become a nurse. Back then, she had no idea what a monster he was. I don’t think even he knew.” His eyes had taken on a distant quality to them as he kept going.

“They dated and got married, obviously, and along I came. Mother insisted that things were good, back then. That times were happy… I can’t say I’d agree. I mean, he was so busy with work—he had his own practice—that he wasn’t around much at all. Even though Mother had a degree for nursing, he’d convinced her to drop her whole life’s plan and stay at home with me. I didn’t think about it at the time, but looking back, it pisses me off that he had so much of a say on her happiness. I mean, I’m sure it was a cultural thing, but goddamn, it was the 80s. It really wasn’t that unheard of for a woman to work, you know? Still, _he_ wouldn’t have it. Said that he’d rather not have to pay for a nanny, even though we could more than afford it.

“In any case, I’m still somewhat happy for all the time I was able to spend with her. I’d come home from kindergarten and she’d have warm cookies or sliced fruit or some other sort of treat waiting for me. We’d often watch cartoons together and she’d ruffle my hair and look at me with this bright smile. I’ll never forget her smile. As far as looks go, I’d say I favor her, and I’m glad for it; I don’t think I’d be able to deal with looking at that fucker’s face in the mirror every day. Anyway, as I got older, our times together shifted, obviously. She started teaching me how to cook and, as you know, I treasure those lessons a lot. Every time I cook, it reminds me of the good times I spent with her, and there were quite a few. She also tried to teach me to knit and crochet, but the best I can do is make scarves.

 “Things continued like this for a while until something happened—I never really asked for details, but it involved a costly malpractice lawsuit and we pretty much lost everything. Suddenly, the bastard was home all the time and he was always angry, drunk or both. Mother had to start working in the end, to make ends meet and I think that pissed him off even more. I’d often feel guilty, because I thought that maybe it was somehow my fault; you know how it is.” He glanced at me and I nodded.

“As an adult, I realize it wasn’t, but back then… I believed him. He’d get mad and yell about how things might have been better if I’d never been born. Obviously, he made the shit up because it was his own stupid mistake that caused our problems, but he was drunk practically twenty-four hours a day, so thinking wasn’t his strong suit. I’m sure he was a brilliant man at some point, but I can only really remember the abusive asshole who would throw empty scotch glasses at my mother as she came home from the night shift and he’d slur as he called her names and accused her of sleeping around.

“Most of the time, I’d be in my room, but if I was ever in the same room as them when there was a fight, I’d usually try to intervene and he’d always hit me. I eventually took self defense classes and learned how to fight back—he definitely didn’t like that—because I was suddenly able to get revenge.” He paused for a moment and I knew I was staring, “I snapped, Eren. I beat the shit out of that fuckhead. Landed him in the hospital with a few broken ribs and a fractured eye socket. I’m not gonna lie. It felt fucking good to finally give that asshole a taste of his own medicine… but it also terrified me. Because he looked up at me, blood gushing from his face where I’d punched him repeatedly and smiled like a creep… and he fucking said, ‘like father like son.’ Eren, I wasn’t any better than him, and it fucking destroyed me for a while.”

I suddenly realized why he didn’t like talking about his past, and I felt terrible for having forced it out of him. I hoped my expression conveyed concern, because I was really worried about him now. I’d never seen him quite like this before. I didn’t know what to do. “Levi, I—”

“It’s in the past. I’ve come to terms with it, and I’ve taken anger management—something he never did. But like I told you at the Halloween party, I live in constant fear of turning into that man that I loathe so very, very much. If… If I ever lay a hand on you, please leave me, okay? Don’t… stay with me like my mother stayed with him. Don’t just accept the abuse.”

“I won’t, but I’m sure that I won’t have to worry about it.” I got up and gave him a loose hug. “You’re strong enough that you won’t let yourself become him. I know it.” I said, kissing him softly on the forehead. “I trust you.” I breathed, hugging him tighter. “I believe in you.”

“Ugh, stop being such a sap, you asshole.” He groaned, and the heavy aura that had settled suddenly dissipated. “Anyway, yeah. That’s basically it.” He hugged me back.

“Question, though. You refuse to use your real last name because of your father’s abusive history, I get that… but why not just use your mother’s maiden name?” I pulled back to look down at him.

“Because her maiden name was Petit.” His face was already back to the usual, cynical expression. “I know you know what that translates to from French and if you can’t figure out why that’s a problem for me, I’m gonna shove a controller up your ass.” Yep, definitely back to himself.

“You shouldn’t waste a perfectly good controller…” I teased, “You’ve got better things to shove up there.”

“You perverted shit.” He said, playfully pushing me away.

“Thanks, by the way. For opening up to me… it means a lot.”

“You’d have to hear of it sooner or later, I guess. I should be glad that you’re not halfway down the street fleeing in terror.” He said with a shrug.

“At the risk of prying, there’s just one more thing…”

“What?”

“Are they… did your parents… um, die?”

“Mother’s alive…  as for _him…_ I couldn’t care less if he’s still alive or not. Probably rotting in some gutter. But I’ll save the rest of that story for some other day. I think you’ve had enough for now.” Levi said, and I dropped the subject as we spent the rest of the day contacting my landlord and the fire department in an attempt at figuring out what came next for Mikasa and me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that’s not too disjointed. Also, sorry for making Levi talk so much, but I have been itching to type up my back story for him ever since I thought it up (a long time) and I might have gotten a bit carried away but whatever. I hope everyone enjoyed this installment… I got the idea for the fire from watching the news one night and rolled with it. Also, it’s a fine excuse for getting boyfriends to live together, huhu.


	12. Words Left Unsaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things. Stuff. Mikasa moves out. The boys have a sort of fight. Make up sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-beta'd. Sorry for any errors.

“Eren, maybe I should move in with someone else.” Mikasa said suddenly, one night at dinner. It had only been a few days since the fire, so it was somewhat shocking that she was saying this. We’d been together ever since we ran away from my dad and I really wasn’t sure how I felt about the idea of separating.  

“Why?” I asked lamely.

“Well, I know someone who lives closer to where I work and I guess I kind of feel like… like I’m intruding on your private time with Levi.” She replied quietly. Okay, so maybe she had walked in on us messing around yesterday; _that_ had been embarrassing, to say the least. We hadn’t gotten _far_ , per se… but Levi and I had been making out pretty heavily and his hand _was_ down my pants…

* * *

_I had been sitting on the couch, flipping through channels when Levi walked through the door, having finished his shift at Game N’ Go. I grunted in greeting while I tried to decide if I wanted to get into the cop drama I’d just found or keep surfing and Levi came up behind the couch, running his hands down over my shoulders, one hand tilting my chin up for an upside-down kiss. I grinned into it, and sighed happily as we kissed like this for a few moments. I reached up and loosely wrapped my hands around the back of his neck, gently tugging him closer._

_He took the hint and pulled back to circle the couch to straddle my lap._

_“Hey.” He murmured, our faces close._

_“Hey yourself.” My arms circled his waist, hands squeezing his backside gently. He rolled his hips into mine, teasing me, a small smirk gracing his lips before he leaned in to kiss me again, full, gentle but at the same time, needy. I uttered a soft whimper, arching into his embrace and deepening the kiss. He pulled back after a moment, our breathing slightly labored._

_“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he breathed._

_“Almost a month, I think…”_

_“Want to?” his eyes darkened slightly, another smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth._

_“Do you have to ask?” I bucked my hips up into his, my eyes growing heavy with lust. I could feel him getting aroused through his pants, and I hummed as I kissed him again. His hands began to roam over me, our kisses getting more passionate, small sounds of urgency and need slipping from our lips. It wasn’t long before I felt his hand deftly undo the front of my pants and slip inside, palming me through my boxers. A low moan edged out of my throat at that, and I don’t know if we had just been too into each other to hear the front door open, but when a we both heard a distinctly feminine gasp, we stopped what we were doing and looked up to see a wide-eyed Mikasa standing at the door._

_“Oh, um. I guess I should have expected this sooner or later...” she muttered, averting her eyes._

_“Mikasa…” I said, practically shoving Levi out of my lap and adjusting myself. “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have—”_

_“No, no. It’s okay. You two are in a relationship. It happens. I’m… I’ll go find something to do, don’t let me interrupt.”_

_“Don’t worry about it.” Levi sighed, “the mood’s gone anyway.” And with that he stood, righted his clothing and walked to the bedroom. I hoped he wasn’t angry with her. It dawned on me that we had been on the couch that she was using as a bed and another apology tumbled from my lips._

_“It’s okay, Eren, really.” She had assured me then._

* * *

Roughly twenty-four hours later, here she was announcing that she wanted to live somewhere else and I couldn’t really blame her in the end.

“Who did you have in mind?” I asked, tone neutral.

“I think she’s a regular at your store, I met her at the New Year’s Party. Her name’s Annie.”

“Ah, the blonde who’s always with those two big guys?”

“Yeah, she’s actually really nice and we get on pretty well.”

“If you’re sure, I don’t see why not.” I decided to be supportive. Levi hadn’t made a comment the entire time, and I glanced over to him, but he only gave me a half shrug that I took to mean _don’t look at me, this is about you two._ “I mean, we knew this would happen eventually, right? And it’s not like I’ll never see you again.” I was saying these things mostly for my own benefit, but she nodded. “So it’s decided. Do you need help with anything?”

“Most of our stuff burned up in the fire, so I’m alright; everything I have left fits in a duffel bag anyway.”

* * *

Adjusting to Mikasa no longer living with me wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought it’d be, but I felt sort of guilty about it anyway; like it was supposed to bother me more, but it really didn’t. I hadn’t minded living with her, but… at the same time, I wasn’t sure I missed her, exactly. Still, I texted her regularly and since Annie had a _PS3,_ she got her own ID— _CrimsonArrow—_ and I was able to contact her that way if needed. Speaking of _PS3s,_ since mine had basically melted, I had recovered my ID on Levi’s system; it wasn’t like I’d had much of anything saved on my hard drive, so it wasn’t a total loss. I ended up getting a request from what I thought at first had been a bot or something, _8482626643_ , but that random string of numbers turned out to be Annie. I’d have to ask her about it sometime… it didn’t make much sense to use your phone number on such a public level (if it even _was_ a phone number)… so I vaguely wondered if it meant something. Mikasa turned out to be much better than me at games, even though she didn’t have a lot of time to play, but I wasn’t terribly surprised. She really enjoyed fighting games, which was also unsurprising.

All things considered, I was happy. Sure, many of my things had gone up in smoke… and sure, I’d lost my precious photos of my mother... but I had moved in with the guy I was pretty sure I wanted to be with for the rest of my life, though I didn’t want to admit it quite yet—it’s scary business thinking that far into the future. He, of course, worked full time, being a manager and I only got scheduled for part time, but I still tried to help him with the bills; it was the least I could do.

As the weeks passed, however, I did start noticing something that irked me; a few days out of the week, he would disappear for a few hours without so much as a word as to where he was going and, me being me… I got worried. Normally, I didn’t jump to worst-case scenarios, but Levi was just too good for someone like me, so naturally I began to suspect something was going on behind my back. It was weird, I mean, he hadn’t seemed to have lost interest in me—we had regular sex and he’d still do little romantic things with me from time to time—so it wasn’t adding up… but I was curious as to where he would disappear to for hours on end.

To make matters worse, Erwin seemed to be in much higher spirits lately and my mind couldn’t help but to try and connect these—at least in _my_ head—clearly connected things. I mean, the past few times I’d worked with Erwin, he had a pretty noticeable spring in his step and my mind immediately went _there._ I’d scowl at him when he wasn’t looking, because I was so certain that somehow he’d managed to seduce my boyfriend into cheating on me. I mean, that was the only explanation I could supply at this rate for the disappearances, for Erwin’s sudden jovialness… and I didn’t like that I had drawn that conclusion, but I couldn’t think of another reason. I wanted to trust Levi, I really did. I felt like I was supposed to. _I’m supposed to love him._

I knew I had to do something about this when my bitter mood regarding the entire situation started to affect my customer service. Since when had I become so passive-aggressive, anyway?

“Eren, you shouldn’t glare at the customers like that.” Petra said one night, touching my elbow gently. “Is something bothering you?”

“I just… I think something’s up with Levi.” I replied, frowning.

“Why’s that?”

“I dunno. He disappears for hours and doesn’t tell me where he’s gone and I just—what if I’m not enough for him?” I turned to her, my eyes searching for some sort of answer.

“Eren… I’m sure he has a perfectly good explanation. Have you even tried to talk to him about it?”

“Well, no, but—”

“You should. I’m sure it sounds scary, especially because it’s Levi, but if it’s you two, I think you can work it out.” She gave me a sincere smile and I wanted to smile just as sincerely, but I couldn’t manage anything more than a false one. I did eventually take Petra’s advice, but rather than talking to Levi, I decided to confront Erwin. I don’t really know what possessed me to go that route. One evening after work, I offered to hang around a little longer than usual, sizing up my boss and trying to think of the best way to start this interrogation.

“Got something on your mind, Eren?” He beat me to the punch. “You’ve been boring holes into me all night.”

“You noticed?”

“I’ve noticed it for a while.” He gave me an irritatingly smug smile; well, it looked smug to _me_ , at least. I frowned in response, my eyebrows furrowing.

“Levi’s… seeing you behind my back, isn’t he?”

“What? No—why—why would you think that?” He gave me a quizzical look. On the one hand, I was mildly proud of myself for having been able to stump _Commander_ Erwin… but that hadn’t been the answer I was expecting. And his confusion seemed genuine. Still, I narrowed my glare.

“He disappears for hours at a time after some of his shifts and doesn’t tell me what he’s doing and you—you’ve been in a better mood lately, so…”

“That’s because I’m seeing Mike.” Erwin commented, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And have you even bothered to _ask_ Levi where he goes?”

“Oh. Um, no…”

“Eren, you should never assume. This is day one stuff.” He shook his head as he grabbed some used stickers to put on a stack of trades. “You forget, Levi isn’t the best with… social conventions. He probably doesn’t think you mind. You need to talk to him.”

“O-okay. I’m… I’m sorry.” I mumbled sheepishly. He chuckled.

“Levi and I didn’t work out the first time, why would I waste time trying it again?”

“Why… didn’t it work out?”

“Ask him about it.” He replied cryptically. So, it _had_ been Levi who broke it off between them. Perhaps Erwin was right. We finished up closing the store and Erwin even offered to drive me home, but I turned him down; I needed some time to think and what better place than public transportation? I waited at the stop for a few minutes and began to let the gears in my head go. Moments later, the bus rolled up and I fished out the fare and climbed on as I continued to think of how to start this conversation that needed to happen.

When I got home—it felt both natural and alien to call Levi’s apartment home still—I noticed that he wasn’t anywhere to be found. Maybe he went to a bar? Or maybe he had a secret second job? What if he couldn’t afford to keep me there and that’s why..? My thoughts spun in my head at a dizzying rate and I flopped on the couch with a loud sigh. This was beginning to drive me crazy, so I had to be sure to get this talk over with tonight.

I was a bit surprised when he came home about an hour later. I walked over to the dining table, half sitting on the edge, arms crossed. “Where were you?” I tried my best to keep my tone neutral, I really did.

“Just running some errands.” He said in a somewhat dejected tone.

“At this time of night?” My tone shifted from neutral to incredulous. _Oops._

“What are implying?” He countered. I looked at him, anger no doubt written all over my features by now.

“I dunno, what’re you hiding?” I retorted. Levi opened his mouth, but apparently thought better of whatever he’d been about to say and closed it again, sighing through his nose. His expression turned from mildly disinterested to a mixture of confusion and irritation. “Well?”

“Are you being fucking serious right now, Eren?” He finally replied exasperatedly, rubbing at his temples. I took a breath, trying to calm myself and—hopefully—not sound so accusatory.

“I’m just… worried.” I admitted. “I know you could do so much better, so when you dis—”

“Wait, back the fun bus the fuck up.” He interrupted, “You don’t think you’re good enough for me? Jesus, Eren… _what the hell?_ Don’t you even _know_ me by now?”

“How am I _supposed_ to, Levi?” I could feel some tears stinging my eyes, my voice rising minutely. “I mean, just the other day is the _first_ time you’ve ever even mentioned your childhood in any sort of detail. I only _just_ recently learned your real last name, for fuck’s sake!”

“Knowing my past doesn’t mean you know me. It just means you know where I came from. The ‘me’ you know now right in front of you, is the only ‘me’ that really matters.” Somehow, he managed to keep his voice even.

“Whatever, I’m just… I’m just saying. You’re secretive and I’m slowly learning how to read you, but it’s hard, so don’t act like I should know you perfectly or something. And yeah, I _don’t_ think I’m good enough for you. I’m ten years younger than you, terribly inexperienced in things, naïve… and I’m not _half_ as good looking as Erwin! I don’t even know why you left him to begin with, what if you leave me, too?” By the end of my tirade, I was crying and my voice had broken several times. Levi just looked at me, but his face had grown softer the more I babbled.

“First of all, don’t let me define your happiness.” He said, “You need to be able to be happy with or without me. I know that the world pretty much pressures you into this idea of soul mates and bullshit, but the truth is you should be able to be happy on your own if you want to be happy with someone else, understand?” I nodded silently, he continued. “Second of all, if you weren’t worth my time, like you seem to think, I wouldn’t still be with you. I don’t have a lot of time to waste on pointless shit, so if I’m still around, don’t you _ever_ fucking say you’re not worth my time.”

“I just—”

“Let me just get this out, please.” He said, holding up a hand. “Third of all, who gives a fuck what my _ex-boyfriend looks like?_ He’s not even in the picture anymore. Don’t get me wrong, the jealousy is kinda cute, but completely unnecessary. Do not ever attempt to compare yourself to anyone else, it’s pointless. I like you the way you are: young, reckless and kind of an idiot. It’s endearing.” He smirked at the last part, and I felt my face flush.

“Hey! Who’re you calling an idiot?”

“I said it was endearing, you shit.” He reached up and pulled my head down to kiss my forehead. I was already feeling a little more at ease, but he still had managed to deflect the important questions. I wasn’t about to let him get away with it.

“Alright, fine; but you still didn’t answer where it is you go or why you and Erwin didn’t work out.”

“Why Erwin and I didn’t work out isn’t really any of your business, but I’ll give you the short version; I wasn’t getting what I needed out of the relationship. Just like with Hanji. And a whole laundry list of exes I’ve had… but Eren, don’t even fucking worry about them. My romantic past shouldn’t be a—a fucking factor in my current relationship. Don’t compare yourself to them, and don’t think that knowing about them can somehow predict how we’ll turn out.” He leaned our foreheads together, looking into my eyes. “Listen; I can’t tell you what choices you should make. All I can say is try not to regret them. That’s all we can do, in the end. Live with no regrets.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. I just… thought—”

“Shh, it’s okay. You don’t need to explain it. As for what it is I do… I’m—I’m going to need some more time before I’m ready to let you in on that. It’s nothing bad, per se. I’m just—I’m not exactly ready. Please trust me.” He gave me a sad smile. I made a disappointed grunt.

“I guess I don’t really have a choice.”

“You do, you always have a choice.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll choose to trust you.” _I mean, I love you. I’m **supposed** to trust you, aren’t I?_ For some reason, I wasn’t able to say the most important part out loud. I could understand not being ready, to a degree.

“I—thank you, Eren. I really appreciate it.” He pressed his face into my neck, nuzzling me gently.

“Was that… our first fight?”

“Sort of?”

“C’mere. We’re having make-up sex, then.” I pulled him up for a quick kiss, letting a smile curl my lips.

“Is that so?” he teased, letting me tug him along to his—our bedroom.

“Mmhm.”

* * *

I practically fell on him, kissing him enthusiastically as we tumbled onto the bed and he returned each one of my kisses in kind. He opened his mouth to me and sucked my tongue in, letting his hands slide down my sides to cup and squeeze my ass as he pulled my closer. I trailed off to plant a line of kisses along his collar bones as I unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. He arched his back, pressing his hips into me, and we both gasped at the friction. I rolled my hips again, humming little needy sounds as I untucked his shirt and let my hands wander underneath, pressing fingers against his skin, reveling in the heat he was giving off. He scooted back and sat up, and I followed him, not wanting to stop the kisses, but he pushed me away slightly.

“Too many clothes.” He mumbled, yanking his shirt off and dropping it on the floor next to the bed. Seeing him do that always sent a surge through me; Levi just littering his clothes on the floor because he was too enthralled by me for it to matter was a lot sexier than I ever thought it would be. I grinned, pulling my own shirt off and tossing it away carelessly before crawling back over to him, lavishing his abs and chest with more kisses.

“I want you so goddamn bad right now.” I half-whispered between kisses.

“Then fuck me, Eren. Fuck me so hard I can’t walk straight.” He crooned in reply. I moaned, pulling him into a heated kiss, nibbling on his bottom lip as my hands continued to press designs into his skin. His fingertips traced along my spine, leaving a tingling trail in their wake as they dove into the hem of my pants and dug into my ass. He moved his hands in massaging motions, eliciting shallow hip thrusts from me. I drew back with a low moan, and stared at him with half-lidded eyes.

“Levi—”

“Mm, Eren… I want your cock.” His words sent a tremble through my body and a quiet, breathy moan left me. “C’mon, brat. Ram that beautiful cock of yours into my ass, would you? Or… do you want me to beg some more?” I whimpered, sitting up to undo my pants; they were getting too tight.

“S-suck it first.” I stuttered, pushing my pants and underwear down to give him access. “Please.”

“It would be my _absolute pleasure._ ” His voice was so low, I almost couldn’t understand what he was saying as he skillfully flipped our positions and crawled on over to my exposed erection. “It looks happy to see me…” he muttered, pressing a kiss to the head.

“It so is.” I sighed, trying to regulate my breathing as he teased me with that damnably skilled mouth of his. He dragged his tongue over the tip, pressing it into the slit before moving it in circular motions, grazing the ridge lightly with his teeth as he took me in deeper. His tongue was pressing along the bottom and he was sucking lightly, swallowing me inch by inch. I let out a keening sound, fisting my hands in the sheets, hips shaking from the sheer effort it took not to recklessly fuck his mouth (though I was sure he wouldn’t mind it, I didn’t want to lose it just yet). “Fuck… Levi…” I sighed, one hand coming to rest on his head, threading fingers in his hair as he continued to blow me. A few moments later, he pulled off and locked eyes with me as he licked his lips and undid his own pants. Once exposed, my eyes were drawn to his erection; he pumped it while I watched and made short, breathy noises.

“Nn, Eren…”

“Stretch yourself wide open for me.” I said, somewhat surprised at myself for being so demanding. “I wanna see you fuck yourself with your fingers.”

“…Wasn’t expecting you to be so bold.” He replied. “I like it.” I helped him pull off his pants, throwing them to join the rest of our clothes on the floor before he shifted once more so he was laying back, legs spread before me. He reached over into the night stand and grabbed the lube, squirting a good amount onto his fingers. I watched him press the first one into his entrance and licked my lips, spellbound as it sank in as deeply as he could get it.

“Mm, yeah. All the way in.” I muttered.

“Baby, I can’t wait to feel your cock inside me.” He responded as he wiggled his finger and began to add a second. He opened and closed them in different directions, stretching himself thoroughly as I became intoxicated from the sight and sounds of it; the slick squishing sound of his fingers exiting and reentering himself was nearly driving me insane. “Jesus, Eren…” He sighed, introducing a third finger now. I felt my cock throb in anticipation and worried my lip with my teeth, brows knitting together, a slight mewling sound emanating from me. He caught my eyes again, his expression focused; I swallowed hard, my eyes darting down to watch him slowly drag his fingers out one last time, spreading his hole open invitingly. “Go on, Eren. Put it in.”

“Fuck, yes…” I sighed, reaching into the nightstand drawer to grab a rubber and getting it on in record time. He handed me the bottle of lube and I prepared to enter him, rolling him to his side, one of his legs propped over my shoulder.

“Erennn I want you to pound me… hard.” He practically whined, wiggling his hips. I let out a trembling moan and took him up on his request, slamming my whole length into him in one go; we gasped in unison. I paused for a moment, breathing heavily before I began to thrust into his surprisingly tight heat, establishing a fairly aggressive rhythm. The sound of our skin colliding, our pants and grunts of pleasure as we rutted like animals in heat was exhilarating. I decided to shift our position slightly, drawing up his other leg on my other shoulder and I felt him tense deliciously around me as he moaned loudly.

“Liking it, huh?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“Fuck yeah.” He gasped back, arching his body into each thrust, enabling me to penetrate as deep as possible. With me hitting his prostate dead on over and over, Levi didn’t last much longer; he came with a shout of my name, spilling himself on his stomach, his clenching muscles pushing me towards my own release.

* * *

We lay side by side afterward, trying to regulate our breathing.

“Maybe having a fight every so often isn’t bad as long as we make up like _that_ every time.” He breathed, a smirk curving his lips. I chuckled, rolling over to look at his chest rise and fall.

“To be honest, I’d like to skip the fighting and just have the rough sex.” I admitted.

“Yeah, but relationships aren’t so simple. There will probably be more arguments, so brace yourself… but…” he shifted to his side as well, looking me in the eyes, “Eren. I’m willing to work my ass off to make it work if you are.”

“Yeah, I’m willing.” _I love you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I wanna scream ‘I love you’ from the top of my lungs, but I’m afraid that someone else will hear me…_  
> 
> I’m going to end that there because I’m horrible at ending chapters. Ahahaha. Idk I feel like my smut is losing its charm or something. Maybe it’s just me? Oh well. I’m thinking this story doesn’t have too much more to go. We’ll see.


	13. Call It Dumb, Call It Luck, Call it Love... Or Whatever You Call It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi’s POV. Levi's trying to think of something to get Eren for that dumb holiday with all the hearts and shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be an aside, but it sort of needs to be part of the main story… but this can't be told in Eren’s POV, so think of this as a sort of in-between chapter. Or something. Idk. 
> 
> I'm super grateful for all the people who have subscribed to this endeavor of mine, I keep writing it for you~ I'm glad people are enjoying my attempts at writing something. I hope I don't disappoint, ahaha. 
> 
> If you want to follow me on tumblr or send me asks or what have you, my url is the same as my pseud (kiokushitaka). Feel freeeeeee to follow me and talk to me and stuff. I love you all. 
> 
> This wasn't beta'd because I'm impatient, so if there's any errors please let me know!!

After Christmas, my least favorite holiday was Valentine’s Day. Not because I spent too many of them single or whatever, but because I hate the fact that a day that’s supposed to be used to celebrate love has been commercialized by greeting card companies to the extent where people honestly believe those companies made the day up… and also because pretty much every single person I know has to gripe about being alone on Valentine’s and how horrible it is—it’s just another fucking day, like any other Jesus tap-dancing Christ. I was thinking about it, though… I had an obligation, no a desire to do something special with Eren. Even if it was just another day to me and I didn’t place a particular amount of importance on whether or not I got laid on an arbitrary day in February… I didn’t know exactly how he felt about the day and I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. Again.

So, one night after hours, while we managers were working on inventory I decided to see if I could farm them for ideas on what to do for the brat.

“Valentine’s is coming up. You guys doing anything?” I said without looking up from scanning one of the used drawers.

“I’ve got a hot date planned with Catherine Tate and David Tennant as I re-watch my favorite season of Doctor Who!”

“Spare me talk about your life-size cardboard cut outs and candlelit dinners with them. I still haven’t forgiven you for that awful sweater you bought me for my birthday.” I groaned.

“Speaking of, what did Eren say about it? You never told me!”

“I haven’t even worn it in front of him, it’s terrible. Why would I?”

“How could you _not?_ Santa taking a shit is _so you._ ”

“No, it really isn’t, you shitty four-eyes.” I spat back, putting my scanner down for a moment while  I closed the completed drawer and moved onto the next one. I heard Erwin chuckling from the other side of the counter, where he was taking stock of the accessories. “What about you, Erwin? Plans?”

“Mike and I were probably just going to stay in.” he admitted softly. I’d known for a while that they’d been seeing each other; it was fairly obvious ever since the new year’s party. “Are you asking because you’re actually interested or because you don’t know what to do with Eren?”

“Both.” I paused my scanning and took a breath. “I want to do something special for him, I mean he’s never had a boyfriend or anything and even if my first relationship wasn’t all I thought it’d be… I want to try to make his something he’ll look back fondly on, should we ever decide… to go our separate ways.”

“That’s surprisingly caring of you.”

“Shut up. I care a lot more than you fucks give me credit for.” I replied somewhat indignantly. “Besides, after the fire, I just… want to make sure he’s, I don’t know… coping? Something.”

“Oh, did he lose something you could replace?” Hanji piped up.

“Well, the only thing he mentioned being really tied to were some photos of his late mother, so yeah, that’s not happening.”

“Did he have them on a computer? I might be able to salvage them, depending on the damage to the hard disk.”

“Ah, I have no idea… it’s been a while. I don’t even know if he went to claim what was left of his stuff from the investigation… but I’ll keep that in mind.” I’d also ask Mikasa if she knew where else I might be able to find these pictures.

* * *

Finding Mikasa on Facebook wasn’t difficult at all. I sent her a private message from my phone while catching up on the news that night. Eren was nowhere to be found when I got home, so I made myself a sandwich and sat on the couch to eat it. A few minutes into the weather report, and I heard the messenger sound go off.

**_Mikasa Ackerman: need something?_ **

**_Levi Heichou: Just a few questions; did you and Eren receive whatever was salvaged from the fire? Would you know where I could find photos of his mother? Please don’t breathe a word of this to him, it’s for a surprise._ **

**_Mikasa Ackerman: he didn’t, but i decided to at least get the computer... well, what’s left of it. annie said she might now someone who can save things off of it._ **

**_Levi Heichou: What a coincidence, I know someone as well._ **

**_Mikasa Ackerman: well i’ll be off for the next few days so you can come by and get this eyesore, if you want. as for where else would there be photos… not that we know where he is, but i’d bet grisha has some, if he hasn’t managed to get himself killed._ **

**_Levi Heichou: Oh, so that’s his name? Grisha Jaeger? I’ll see what I can dig up. Thanks for your help._ **

**_Mikasa Ackerman: if… if you find that bastard, please don’t tell him anything about us. he’s a monster._ **

**_Levi Heichou: Believe me, I’ve got my own history with monsters. I’ll be sure to keep things hushed._ **

With an idea of where to start my search, I finished up my sandwich and made my way to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for bed. I had figured Eren was already fast asleep when I got home, so I padded softly into our now-shared bedroom and let a small smile curl my lips as I watched him breathe for a little bit. I couldn’t deny that I was glad to have met the little punk. I walked over to the balcony so I could enjoy an after dinner cigarette, continuing to contemplate our relationship.

Eren was a hotheaded little mess, but he was _my_  hotheaded little mess and I couldn’t deny that I loved him.

A warmth fluttered through me when I admitted it to myself. _Love._ _I love him._ I felt my face flush and I swallowed hard. I wasn’t ready for this… but is anyone? I could actually see myself waking up every morning next to him and being happy with him and for some reason—for some unknown reason—that didn’t scare me at all. I could see me with him _forever…_ and it was just… weirdly comfortable. I was more put off by my calm acceptance of the fact than by the fact itself.

I drew in and exhaled smoke, letting the smell of the cloves wash over me. It really wasn’t a bad thing, after all. Just… a little shocking. I knew I cared about him, but this was just a little more than I realized. I finished my cigarette, crushing the butt in the ashtray and went back inside to brush my teeth and get ready to sleep. After shedding my clothes, folding them neatly and putting them in the hamper, I padded over to the bed and slipped under the covers, finding Eren’s warmth and hugging him to me. I pressed my nose into his hair, and pressed a soft kiss onto the nape of his neck.

“Mmm don’t kiss me there unless… you wanna do it…” Eren muttered sleepily, pressing back against me.

“Maybe in the morning, if we have time.” I whispered back, “I’m just in a cuddly mood for some reason.”

“S’cool. Like cuddles. Especially from you. But not cuttlefish.” His sleepy murmurings made me smile wider. I spooned with him as sleep gently overtook me, basking in his warmth.

* * *

My next off day rolled around and I’d decided to spend it locating Eren’s father, which astoundingly didn’t take as long as I thought. I supposed that Eren and Mikasa had simply not had a desire to see what their old man had been up to since they left, but thanks to public records I knew exactly where he was, and would be for probably the rest of his life. It had paid off to search the police records first; Grisha Jaeger had quite the laundry list of ‘disorderly conduct’ and ‘drunk in public’ charges, but what landed him a life term was that he had apparently murdered some guy named Hannes.

 _Eren and Mikasa got out when the getting was good._ I thought, wondering how to eventually break the news to them. I had decided that I would, so they could have closure. Truthfully, I lived in fear of my own father finding me, because if he did I didn’t know what would happen. At least I could tell them this tidbit and save them the worry. I sent Mikasa another message over Facebook letting her know I was on my way over to see about the molten computer before throwing on a jacket and heading down to my car.

In a matter of minutes, I was at Annie’s, rapping my hand sharply against the door. Mikasa opened up and invited me in; the apartment was clean, if a little sparse, but I couldn’t say I was surprised. Mikasa practically shoved a cardboard box at me.

“This is what’s left of the computer.” She said, “I hope you can get something off of it.”

“Thanks…” I muttered. I may as well tell her. “I found Grisha… he’s in prison.” When I said where he was, Mikasa let out a hollow laugh.

“Why am I not surprised?” She said rhetorically. “Well, at least he can’t come for us. What’d he do?”

“Killed someone named Hannes.”

“Oh god, not Hannes…” she froze, taken aback by that news. “Hannes… was practically our uncle. He… he was there when we needed him and even though he was also a drunk, he didn’t beat us. He was a happy, silly drunk… he—”

I reached out and attempted to console her and she hugged me. I just kind of stood there awkwardly. “There, there…” I said, not knowing what else to say; she eventually composed herself and straightened up.

“Sorry, it’s just…”

“No need to explain. I understand.” I assured her. “In any case, I might need your help. I doubt they’ll let some schmuck off the street rifle through Grisha’s personal shit. Like I said before, I’m… I’m hoping to find pictures of Eren’s mother. He was crying about losing them in the fire and I wanted to try to restore them as a Valentine’s gift.”

“You  really love Eren, don’t you?” Mikasa asked suddenly, and I felt my face burn. “I mean—I knew you cared about him, don’t get me wrong.”

“Your point?” I asked in a clipped tone, mostly due to my own embarrassment. I wasn’t sure if I wanted it getting out that I had a soft side.

“Nothing. I’d be happy to help.” She smiled, “And… thanks. For telling me about Hannes. You should tell Eren, too.”

“I will, but after I find out if I can get the pictures and stuff. I don’t want to give away the surprise.”

* * *

I took what was left of the computer over to Hanji’s place, and she took a look at it and seemed optimistic, assuring me that she should be able to get something off of the disk considering it was still in decent shape. I thanked her, told her I was leaving it in her hands and extracted myself from her company before she started talking my ear off about the latest episode of whatever show she’d been watching and decided that, after such a productive day, some quiet time was in order. I thought back to the small fight Eren and I had had recently, and smiled sadly to myself. I hadn’t been able to tell him then, but with my realizations of my feelings, I knew I’d have to eventually.

I drove to a nearby hospice and checked in with the receptionist. “Why, hello Mr. Levi. How are you?” She asked, her attitude much too bubbly (I thought, at least) for working where she did.

“Alright, I guess. I just wanted to talk to maman.”

“And she’s here waiting for you, as always.” The girl chirped, waving at me as I walked down the all too familiar hallway to where my mother would more than likely live out the rest of her days. I let myself into the room and settled into a chair next to her bed where she lay, hooked up to the IV drips and machines that kept her alive—but just barely. She was basically a vegetable, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask them to pull the plug. I was still too selfish.

One day, I’d tell Eren that this was where I came for hours at a time. I came here to read and talk to my mother in the vain hopes that maybe she’d wake up. I’d even bring him here to meet her, even if he’d never get to see her laughing or smiling or hear her voice. I just wasn’t sure I was ready yet. I sent him a text to grab whatever for dinner, as I’d probably be out a bit late with errands, and leaned my elbows on my knees.

“Maman… it’s me. Levi. I’m… I’m doing really well, actually. I’m in love…” I gently reached out to trail fingers over her hand, “His name’s Eren and he’s fiery and hotheaded and a huge idiot… but he’s my idiot, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I told her everything I knew about Eren, that we had quite a lot in common, that he liked to play games with me and liked my cooking—the cooking she’d taught me so lovingly. I felt tears start to gather in the corners of my eyes and did my best to hold them back, but some slid down my face anyway.

“I miss you, Maman.” I said quietly. “I wish you’d wake up.”

* * *

It was late when I finally left the hospice and made my way home. It seemed Eren had just arrived recently as well; I found him in the kitchen with a bag from Krystal’s.

“I hope you don’t mind, I was in the mood for something greasy.” He said, smiling sheepishly.

“Are you kidding? I fucking love Krystal’s.” I laughed, grabbing the bag from him, thankful that I could cover up my melancholy mood so easily. “Ooh, you got chili cheese fries? It’s like you can read my mind.”

“Mind if I play a game after dinner?”

“Not at all, what’d you have in mind?”

“Left 4 Dead…” Oh, he’d discovered my _Xbox 360_ and had fallen in love with that game, even though he was fucking awful at it. My poor, adorable idiot boyfriend and his inability to play FPS games. I smiled at him as I shook my head and sighed.

 “Alright, but for fuck’s sake, don’t go near the goddamn witches this time. Watching you die horribly—while hilarious—gets old.”

“Fine, I won’t.” Eren half whined. I grabbed some paper plates and we split the contents of the bag up between us, laughing and eating as he told me about his day and I thought about how I’d be okay with this for the rest of my life.

“Eren I—” I stopped myself, but he had heard me and looked at me questioningly. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I said, unable to bring myself to say the words explicitly.

Someday. Someday soon. I had to wait for the time to be just right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I don't like to make Levi use French words in fics (I've been known to stop reading a fic if the author had put whole paragraphs in Google French, for instance, and didn't provide a translation) but I felt that for this fic, Levi being of half French descent, he'd use "maman" to refer to her. I call my own mother "mami" in Spanish, so that's my reasoning... aha.
> 
> OH YEAH where I live we have Krystal... but it's basically the same thing as White Castle. :>


	14. A Many Splendored Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Humanity's smelliest comes into the store, Eren and Levi finally say some things that they've needed to say since forever, some intense lovemaking ensues and throughout it all, they're huge dorks. What else is new?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me longer than necessary and ended up not being as long as I thought, but eh. I'm still pretty pleased with it. 
> 
> If you want to follow me on tumblr, it's the same as my pseud ([kiokushitaka](http://kiokushitaka.tumblr.com/)). You can send me asks and stuff. I like getting to know you. :>
> 
> I track **fic: tciaaw** and **fic: the customer is almost always wrong** so use those if you want me to see comments or art or whatevs. 
> 
> This chapter was not beta'd, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar or spelling issues.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been slightly dreading Valentine’s Day. What if I screwed everything up? I figured Levi would be understanding or otherwise indifferent; he didn’t seem the type to subscribe to things like getting cards or chocolates and to be honest, I didn’t want those clichéd things either. It took me a while, but I finally came up with something I thought would be meaningful as well as practical to give him, and I hoped he’d like it… or at least the intention behind it.

Of course, it turned out I had to work on Valentine’s Day. The store wasn’t too bad, but if I had a nickel for every person who came in complaining about card companies or about how desperately single they were, I’d have a lot of nickels. After a certain point you just wonder if people expect a significant other to just climb out of their computer while they’re playing _World of Warcraft_ or something. It was Hanji, Petra and me and we were chatting casually between busy spells.

“Oh, Hanji… I finally started watching _Doctor Who._ ” I mentioned; she practically bounced over to me, her eyes wild with excitement. _Oh, hell…_

“That’s great, Eren! Do you like it? How far are you? Are you watching the old episodes or just from the reboot onwards? Who’s your favorite character so far? What do you think of the aliens?” She fired off questions faster than an _RCP-90_ fired bullets in _GoldenEye 007._ I sighed, and raised a hand to try to get her to pause.

“Uh, the doctor is some guy with short hair and a leather jacket and he kind of reminds me of Levi with how sassy he is.”

“Oooooh, Nine. Nine’s pretty great.”

“Hey, guys? I hate to interrupt your nerding over British Sci-fi, but…” Petra suddenly showed up at the counter and cocked her head towards the door, “Not it!” she said before quickly disappearing into the backroom. Hanji and I both looked up to see what she was talking about when we saw him—one of our regular customers—walking across the parking lot. Some regulars were fun to talk to, like Armin or even Annie, and then there were regulars like this guy, who we wanted to avoid at all costs. Why?

Imagine three-day old road kill on a hot and humid summer day and you’d get an idea at best at how this particular guy smelled at any given moment. His nickname amongst us was Humanity's Smelliest, because of his… _unique_ fragrance. Hanji and I tried to both sprint to the back room as well, but she tripped me and I landed face-first on the floor as she squealed a “Sorry Eren!” and disappeared into the safety of the stock room. I let out a dejected sigh and hefted myself up, attempting to steel myself against the overpowering odor I knew would bombard me as soon he opened the door.

“Hey, look who it is!” I said, my tone forced. “What can I help you with today?”

“I just wanted to look around, but I do have a couple of trades.” He replied. It was exceedingly tragic because he wasn’t a bad person per se… he just smelled horrible. We could be friends if he’d just get properly acquainted with a goddamn shower. I hoped my eyes weren’t watering from the putrid stench he let off as I smiled.

“Take your time.”

“All alone today, Eren?” He asked as he perused the _PS2_ bins.

“Ah, no… the others are on break.” I covered, smiling weakly. He wasn’t even that close, but he didn’t have to be. My nostrils were on fire; I doubted that even the depths of hell smelled this bad. I’d take sulfur over this rancid stink any day—and that’s saying something. “What’re you in the mood for?”

“Well, I recently took my _PS2_ out of storage… but my copy of _Katamari Damacy_ got warped. Climate controlled my ass.” He replied, “So, that… and anything else that might catch my eye. Kind of in an RPG mood, to be honest.”

“What, like turn-based, or…?” The sooner he chose what he wanted, the sooner he’d be gone and the sooner I could pull a Levi and spray the air with copious amounts of disinfectant _._

“No preference.”

“Have you tried _Odin Sphere_ or any of Namco’s _Tales_ series? I rather liked _Tales of the Abyss_.”

“Who does _Odin Sphere_?” he asked without looking up. Had it been seven minutes yet? Why hadn’t my nose stopped registering the smell?

“Ah… I think it’s by Atlus. The art is beautiful and the game is really fun, though it can lag because of the graphics…” I admitted. “But the same artist did the characters in _Muramasa_ for the _Wii_ , to give you an idea.”

“Ah, I think I’ll pass on it if it’s laggy… heard anything about this _Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel_ game?”

“Yikes, don’t bother. It’s got really awful music, and the gameplay is just… boring. So much potential with that series, too… and Squeenix wasted it.” We chatted as I suffered silently, doing my very best to keep my pained facial expressions to a minimum and he finally made his decision, I took his trades and cashed him out. He thanked me and exited the store before I promptly grabbed one of Levi’s stash of _Lysol_ cans and began to spray all around the store. Thankfully, no one else was there at the time.

“Is it safe?” Hanji cracked the door open.

“Don’t act like you weren’t watching the camera the whole time.” I replied, narrowing my eyes at her and Petra. They both shrugged with knowing smirks and I stuck my tongue out at them. “I claim ‘not it’ next time Humanity's Smelliest comes in and I’m working.”

“Thaaaaaaat’s not how it works, Eren. You know that!” Hanji replied as she shoved me playfully.

* * *

“How was work?”

“Humanity's Smelliest came in, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go shower until my skin is raw.” I answered, walking past Levi who was sitting on the couch playing _Grand Theft Auto V_. I didn’t even go in for a kiss, because I knew better, and I was sure he appreciated that fact.

“Oh. Um. I got you something. When you’re done.” He said, tone distracted by the game.

“Cool, I got you something too. It’s probably dumb.” I replied, heading into the bedroom as I shed my clothes and threw them in the hamper. I turned the hot water on as high as I could handle and got in. After a proper scrubbing—I even washed my hair—I stepped out and toweled off, draping it over my shoulders before heading back out to the bedroom to grab some boxers and slide them on.

“Oh, hey. Didn’t know there was gonna be a show…” Levi’s voice half-startled me.

“If it’s a show you want…” I replied, turning with what I hoped was a seductive smile, “I can give you one…”

“Oh my god, you look hilarious.” He snorted— _fucking snorted_ —and laughed.

“I was trying to be sexy!”

“You’re sexier when you don’t try, kid.” Mirth was still sparkling in his eyes, and I didn’t actually mind his teasing as much as I pretended to. “Anyway, let’s do this Valentine’ s bullshit first.” I tugged on an undershirt and sat on the edge of the bed, watching as he went into the closet and came back out momentarily holding what looked like a leather bound book or binder of some sort. “I hope you like it.” Was all he said as he pushed it into my hands and sat down next to me. I looked him in the face, searching it for any hint or clue and finally decided to carefully open the cover. My breath left me in a soft gasp as I was greeted by my own mother’s smiling face, holding me as an infant in a hospital bed.

“How did you—Where—?”

“It’s… a long story. I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to ruin the moment.”

I could feel tears forming in the corners of my eyes as I flipped the pages; I thought I’d never see these images again… he’d even managed to get some of the ones that I swore I only had physical copies of. Just what kind of deal with Satan had he made to get a hold of these? I swallowed and turned another page. My mother smiling while hanging up laundry in the backyard, Mikasa and I playing hide-and-seek with the sheets… I couldn’t hold the tears back anymore.

“Jesus, Levi... I—I don’t know what to say. Fuck. My gift is lame in comparison to this. I’m—”

“I’ll be the judge of your gift’s lameness.” I looked up from the photos I had been so sure I’d never see again and grabbed Levi by the front of his shirt, yanking him towards me for a rougher kiss than I’d intended, but… I needed to show him how much this meant to me and that was the only thing I could think of. He kissed back, a light moan at the back of his throat and I pulled away.

“Thank you… so much.”

“I just want you to be happy.” He said. The simplicity of that statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt my eyes widen a bit, but they softened again as a smile crept over my lips.

“You make me happier than I’ve ever been. I know that’s cheesy as fuck, but it’s the truth.” I set the album aside—I’d look through it later—and got up to rummage through my sparse belongings to produce a small, wrapped package which I practically threw into his hands. “It’s really not as good as what you got me, but I’m just a lame-ass kid.” I laughed as I watched him look at it curiously before unwrapping it.

“Electric cigarettes?” He asked, tilting his head to one side in confusion. I flushed.

“I-I just thought that this way you can still smoke but, um. Not die of lung cancer.” My voice sounded flustered and I blushed harder because of it, almost missing the soft smile that curled his lips. “It’s lame, but… I—I really li— _love_ you.” I clenched my eyes closed as I said it. There was a beat of silence and it felt like the universe could have ended in that moment… and then I felt warm hands on my cheeks, thumbs gently stroking my face as he pulled me closer to him and his breath puffed against my lips as he spoke.

“I love you too, Eren.” He kissed me softly and lingered for a while before pulling back.

It felt like time had slowed down as I opened my eyes to look at him and quite frankly, I didn’t mind. In fact, time had ceased to exist the moment he uttered those words; I mean, yeah I knew he did—just as I was sure he knew I did—but hearing it out loud, admitting it was an entirely different experience. He turned to put the gift I’d given him on the nightstand and chuckled softly.

“What?”

“No one’s ever… what I mean is, everyone always tried to get me to quit rather than find me an alternative. I don’t know. You’re… you’re amazing. You probably don’t even realize how much it means that you got those instead of some fancy chewing gum.” He turned back towards me, one hand caressing my thigh gently.

“I’d hate for you to resent me for something like begging you to quit. Besides…” I looked away as my cheeks burned red again, “You look really hot when you smoke so…”

“Mm, you know what else I look hot doing?” his fingers crooked under my chin and he nudged me to face him; I looked into his eyes, drinking in his expression—everything about his face, really. How his eyes sparkled with so much emotion, half-lidded with desire. His cheeks were tinted with a slight blush that I almost didn’t see due to the low light. I shrugged, not trusting myself to say anything as I swallowed. “You.” He breathed as he pushed me back against the bed and straddled me. A small ‘eep’ of surprise left my lips, but it quickly melted into a soft whimper when his lips found mine again.

He kissed me soft and full and hungry all at once and I returned it, my hands sliding over the strong cords of muscle in his neck and shoulders, pressing him closer to me. I felt him chuckle against my lips as his lips made their way to my neck, nipping and lapping at my jaw playfully; my body trembled in response. “God, yes…” I sighed, my back arching up into his, enjoying everything he was doing to me. His hands were sliding under my shirt, teasing their way up my sides, fingers pressing nonsense patterns into my skin as I writhed. He sucked and nipped on the skin of my collar, gently scraping me with his teeth, causing me to whimper and beg for more. I tried to press him closer, my hips rolling up for some much needed friction, and that earned me an aroused groan. He pulled back, straightening his arms and looked down at me, hair a bit disheveled, eyes completely glazed over with want.

“I’m gonna suck your cock.” He said as he exhaled and I felt my cheeks light up at his forwardness.

“Fuck yeah…” I breathed, unable to form anything more intelligent at the moment. He shifted his position, crawling over and around me to get where he needed to be and hooked his thumbs under the waistband of my boxers, getting them out of the way. I felt his breath ghost over my heated skin and shivered as he planted a kiss on the tip.

“Fuck, Eren… you have such a great cock.” He muttered, causing me to blush even redder and mumble an awkward ‘thanks,’ which made him snicker. “I mean it…” He insisted, licking a circle around the crown, “It’s fucking perfect.”

“Y-yeah? So’s yours…” I sighed, my eyes flicking up to the bulge in his pants that was presently hovering over my face. Without giving it a second thought, I reached up and unfastened the button and zipper, a smirk forming when I noticed he wasn’t wearing any underwear. “Mm, that’s hot…” I whispered, gently tugging his length out as he continued to tease mine. Trailing fingers lightly along his erection, I gently angled it so I could swirl my tongue around the tip; he gasped and gave the head of my dick a harsh suck which made my hips stutter upwards as a low moan escaped me in response. I could feel him smirk around me as he took in more of me, teeth gently scraping over my sensitive skin. My breath hitched, but I was determined not to let him reduce me into an incoherent mess just yet.

I kissed the head and underside of his dick, stroking what I couldn’t manage to reach with my lips. He let out a shaky breath, which made me grin as I reached up to attempt to pull his hips closer to my face.

“Christ…” Levi’s hot breath puffed against me; I paused and lay back, my fingers still idly playing with his balls.

“I want you inside me.” I said quietly, fingers ghosting over his engorged flesh. “I want you to fill me up and fuck me senseless.” A small smirk formed on my lips as his dick twitched in response to my request.

“Goddamn, how can I even refuse when you ask me like that?” He chuckled, “You manipulative little shit… I fucking love you so much.” He kissed the tip of my cock one more time and then shifted positions once more, our faces mere inches apart. I leaned up and kissed him, catching his bottom lip with my teeth, tugging playfully. He kissed back and pulled away, reaching over to the nightstand to grab the lube and condoms when an idea crossed my mind and my hand shot out to grab his wrist.

“I want you _bareback._ ” I whispered, before I let him go. I could have laughed at his wide-eyed expression as he swallowed hard had I not been so thoroughly aroused.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I wanna _feel_ you come inside me.”

“Good goddamn…” He breathed, “Where the fuck did you— _fuck_. Yeah, let’s fucking do this.” His lips were on mine again, sloppy and wet and the fact that it was Levi and that he was being so reckless in showing his affections made a whine edge out of my throat. There wasn’t anything quite like making Levi—of all people—lose his composure to that degree… and it was sexier than I could have ever imagined. His mouth strayed down, the cooler air of the room hitting the moistened patches of my skin, making me shiver and bite my lip as he nibbled and sucked rhythmically; I knew there’d be hickies and I couldn’t be bothered to give two shits at this point.

When his fingers circled my tight opening, I sucked a breath in and whimpered as I exhaled it, worrying my lip with my teeth, fingers digging into the pillow top mattress beneath me. I wanted this more than anything I’d ever wanted; of that fact I was certain. He pulled his fingertips away for a moment and I heard the bottle of lube being popped open, causing my dick to twitch in anticipation. Another little whine escaped me; he was taking too long to get to it and I cracked open my eyes—I hadn’t even realized I’d clenched them shut—to see him looming over me with a smug expression.

“What was it that you wanted?” He asked, his amused tone almost unnerving. I let out a shuddering sigh, trying to gather my wits enough to respond.

“St-stretch me wide open… finger fuck me a—and then I want… you to ram your cock into me as deep as you can…” I mewled, my face hot more from the sheer arousal than any sort of embarrassment. Levi laughed softly and licked his lips and I uttered a final plea, “Fuck me hard... _so hard I forget my name._ ”

“Where did you even get these lines…” Levi murmured, shaking his head, “Too many pornos, I swear…” He added as I felt a slick, cool finger press against my asshole.

“Shut— _ah!_ ” He slid his finger in and in my current state that was enough to elicit such a wanton cry.

“I’m not complaining…” He said, “Clichéd dirty talk is still sexy as fuck… but your little moans?” he leaned in close fixing me with a carnal stare and I whimpered again, “ _I’m going to make you forget how to form words..._ ”

“God… yes…” I sighed as he flexed the finger inside me, pressing against my insides. It wasn’t long before a second and then a third finger was being pushed in, spreading me apart, making me crave more. By that time, I was pushing back against his hand, my eyes pleading as I begged for his cock once more; begged for him to ream me with it, to just shove it in already. “Levi, please I want you so bad… _fuck_ I need you inside me…” I whined, spreading my thighs and attempting to push my hips up to show him just how desperate he was making me. “I—I feel like I’ll die if you don’t fuck me right now…” I whimpered, my cock throbbing. He drew his fingers out and I mewled, long past caring how utterly embarrassing this should have been.

Levi angled my hips upwards, hooking my legs over his shoulders, aligning himself with my entrance as he lubed himself up and said in a gruff whisper, “You asked for it rough, you’re gonna fucking get it.”

A hoarse cry ripped itself from me when I felt him thrust all the way in at once, my eyes widening, my mouth suddenly dry. It hurt a little bit, but _god yes_ it was just what I’d been begging for… not to mention the angle this position provided; as he began to establish his pace I could feel the ridge of his dick brushing against my prostate, making my body shiver and jolt with pleasure each time.

“H-how…” I tried, but the sensory overload was too much for me to attempt any more than a strangled moan after that. He smiled, biting his lip at the same time, his fringe falling into his eyes with his movements, skin glistening with sweat in the dim lamp light; Levi was right. He _did_ look hot doing me.

“Fuck, it’s so _good…_ Eren…” He groaned, thrusting his hips into me a little faster, a little deeper, making me cry out in response. “I can feel _everything…_ and it’s _fucking amazing._ ” True to his claims, I was long past the ability to form words at that point. All I could manage were moans and gasps and pleading little mewls as he thrust his hips hard and fast and deep, little grunts tumbling from his semi-parted lips as he did so. Every so often, he’d hit me inside in such a way that had me shuddering, crying out in such pure bliss, wordlessly begging for more. My hands fisted the sheets; clenching, unclenching… my body trembled and shuddered and I had never been so thoroughly wrecked in my whole life _and I was loving every second of it._ I let out a keening moan in an attempt to signal that I was getting close, heat pooling in my lower body; my fingers scrabbled over his gyrating hips, trying to find purchase—trying to hold on to him—my thighs began to tremble and I half wanted to try to stave it off, to feel this fucking amazing just a little longer.

“God— _fuck—_ Eren, I’m—” was all the warning he gave and I could feel it; it was warm and it filled me and _oh god._ I cried out in response, my own body tensing as I came, clenching around his pulsating length, covering my stomach and chest with translucent fluid as choked moans tumbled out of my mouth. When I finally calmed down enough, he drew himself out and I whimpered at the sudden feeling of emptiness which earned me a low chuckle from him. He collapsed next to me, breathing hard. “Enjoyed it that much, huh?” All I could do to respond was nod and hum affirmatively as I lay there in a boneless heap, trying to breathe normally again.

After a few moments I managed to collect myself enough, “You’re _so_ good to me…” My voice came out a low warble, still a bit strained, but at least I could put my thoughts into words again.

“I could say the same to you.” He rolled over and kissed my forehead, “Ugh we’ll have to clean the sheets though.” I laughed at his disgust; typical Levi.

“Obviously, but can we shower first?”

* * *

We spent the rest of the day lounging around the living room, playing games or watching Netflix—I’d managed to convince him to watch a few episodes of _Doctor Who_ with me—and otherwise relaxing. Boy did I need it after that thorough pounding…

“You know Eren, I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?”

“Life, the universe, and everything.”

“Jesus, Levi… please don’t start singing _So Long And Thanks For All The Fish_ again…” I groaned, pausing the episode we were watching and setting the controller down. I turned to look at him, wearing an expression of mild concern. “Seriously, though…”

“Maman… As I told you before, my mother’s alive. I was thinking that—that since this is serious, maybe I should introduce you two.” I searched his face for cues, unsure of how I should react, but couldn’t find any. I opted to smile appreciatively, knowing just how dearly he felt about his mother.

“I’d love to meet her.”

“It’s just—” it was almost imperceptible, but I could hear it—faintly—but it was there. I heard his voice crack; was he about to cry? Concern fluttered over my features once more. “It’s just that—” I leaned over to him and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into my chest.

“Shh. Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.” I rocked him back and forth, and hummed an old lullaby my mother used to sing to me to calm me down.

“What is that? It’s really calming.” He mumbled into my chest.

“My mom used to sing me this old lullaby… it was in German, though, so I don’t know the words. All I can do is hum the melody. Anyway, it always helped me, so I figured it might help you, too.” I shrugged. At this he pulled back, and sat up. I watched as he carefully drew in a breath and exhaled it.

“Maman… she’s in a coma.” He took another breath, “That’s—that’s where I go. I go to see her. I… I read to her. She really likes fairy tales.” I could see how much he cared about her in his face, his body language, the way his eyes crinkled and a small smile curved his lips as he talked about his mother. “Her brain activity always spikes when I read to her from _1001 Arabian Nights…_ last time I went to see her, I told her about you. That I’m… in love. Fuck, I love you so much, Eren.” That was three ‘I love you’s today, from Levi. I pulled him towards me and kissed his forehead. I didn’t ask what landed her in the coma… he’d tell me in time (though I had a feeling it had a lot to do with his father’s violent history).

“I love you, too. I’m glad we finally said it out loud… I’ve been… wanting to.” I admitted. “I just—I didn’t want to—I don’t know—come off as needy or something.”

“Nah, I get you. We live in a world were words like that lose their meaning too fast, and honestly? I’m surprised I’ve said it as much as I have today… but with you… it always feels like the right time to say it. I don’t know what it is.” He nuzzled my chest as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I buried my nose in his hair, taking in his scent.

“I want to say something really cheesy.”

“Everything you say is cheesy.” I could feel him grinning into my shirt.

“Ugh, fine then. Forget I even mentioned it.” I teased, hugging him closer despite my words.

“No, say it. Now I’m curious.”

“I feel like we were meant to be.” I felt my face burn as I uttered it and he pulled back _laughing._

“Wow, you’re right. That was cheesy as shit.” I pouted exaggeratedly and stuck out my tongue.

“Leave it to me to be fucking soul mates with the world’s biggest asshole.” I quipped, pushing his shoulder. “Just my luck, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about… if I recall, it’s _your_ asshole that got stretched a little while ago.” He teased right back, making me blush.

“Why do I even put up with you?”

“Because you love me and the sex is phenomenal.” He leaned up and kissed me, as if to punctuate that statement.

“Okay, yeah. You’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lullaby is a reference to [Vogel Im Käfig](http://youtu.be/9vuXvq_PGHQ) because it's just such a pretty song (even if the last bit's Carla's death theme in the anime). 
> 
> IT TOOK ME THREE DAYS TO WRITE THAT SMUT, SO I HOPE IT DOESN'T DISAPPOINT. JFC. Idk, I really needed some rough top!Levi action... and here's you're PSA that condoms are important and the only reason they didn't use them is because there's a level of trust here now and no one has STDs okay but irl you should totally use them and stuff! This ends the PSA, back to your regularly scheduled end notes. 
> 
> Shout out to all the AWESOME people who've talked to me about how much they love this little endeavor of mine, you guys have no idea how much that helps me to keep going until I get the whole story out. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I don't think there's many more, and this'll be my first complete multi-chapter AU.


	15. Life Is A Roller Coaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi tells Eren how he got the pictures, there's a mishap with a preorder, a little backroom fun, and some no good, very bad news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get this beta'd (ha, remember when I used to do that? good times...) so let me know if there are any glaring mistakes. 
> 
> A HUGE thank you to everyone who reads this, y'all are great and I love you. Feel free to follow me on tumblr ([kiokushitaka](http://kiokushitaka.tumblr.com)). Send me asks or fanmails or whatever; I track the tags **fic: tciaaw** and **fic: the customer is almost always wrong** if you want me to see something~

“So, I’ve been wondering…” I began, without warning or preamble, “How’d you get all those photos? Make some sort of crossroads devil deal?” I poked at my dinner absently with my fork.

“Oh fuck me sideways, when did Hanji get you to start watching _Supernatural_..?” Levi replied with a sigh. “I suppose I did say I’d tell you later… and it _is_ later—hey, don’t play with your food. What are you? Nine?”

It was a week later, to be exact. I hadn’t wanted to push it much, especially after he dropped the bombshell about his mother—he wasn’t the type to just share personal stuff like that, so I reckoned he had to take breaks between heart to hearts. Or something. Either way, I’d been as patient as my brain would allow for _a whole week_.

“You did.” I stopped poking the peas on my plate and looked at him earnestly.

“I should probably warn you… it’s not all happiness and roses. When I told Mikasa—”

“You told her _before_ me!?” My tone was incredulous, and a little jealous.

“—Would you fucking listen for a goddamn second? I _had_ to, and if you’ll let me fucking tell you the story, you’ll find out why. Christ.” He glowered at me, but continued, “Anyway. Mikasa seemed kind of shaken up by one of the developments, so… I don’t know. Brace yourself.”

“Okay.”

“I started by getting Hanji to look at your computer—well, what was left of it—and she managed to get quite a lot of images off of the hard disk but I wanted to try to see if I could find some of the other pictures and I thought maybe your old man would have ‘em.”

“Y-you… found him? Does he—”

“If you’d _listen_ instead of interrupting me like some shitty toddler maybe you’d find out, hm?” He said, pressing his lips into a thin line, the exasperation apparent in his eyes. “And eat your peas, you’re not a child.”

“Fiiiine.” I shoved the offending legumes into my mouth, chewed, and swallowed them. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” Levi deadpanned, “Are you going to listen and not interrupt me every time a thought enters your brain?”

“Yes.”

“Good. As I was saying… Mikasa told me what his name was and I just looked him up online. ‘Grisha’ isn’t exactly a common name around here, after all. I decided to go with criminal records first and would you believe that was all I had to do? To be sure, I checked to see if there were news articles or whatever to do with any of it and they were a bit on the sparse side themselves…” I listened to Levi’s voice as he told me about his process; that my father came up with a criminal record wasn’t surprising in the least. It was a matter of time after he went off the deep end. I continued listening with interest, “I didn’t read any detailed court records or transcripts, but it looks like your dad’s doing life for killing someone.”

“Wh-who did he…” I felt the blood drain from my face.

“Someone named Hannes.” Levi’s hand was on mine, squeezing it reassuringly. I felt my chest constrict.

“No… no—not Hannes…” I shook my head as tears rolled down my cheeks. “Why did it have to be Hannes?”

“From what I can tell based on the few local news articles I found about the case, there was a bar fight and things—well, they got out of hand. He was charged with manslaughter and found guilty—I’m really surprised they didn’t at least try to contact you about this.”

“They probably did, actually.” I sighed as I wiped my face with the back of my hand, “But in an effort to lose dad, we never updated our phone or address with the county. As far as they knew, we were still living with that fuckhead.”

“I don’t blame you. Anyway, I had to tell Mikasa first because I figured I’d need someone with some sort of relation to him in order to get access to his stuff.” Levi shrugged, “And as you know, I managed to get the negatives and reprint the photos you lost.”

“I can’t fucking believe Hannes is—that that fucking bastard killed—I’m—” my voice was trembling, angry and low.

“Breathe.” Levi said as he reached his hand out and placed it on my shoulder. “Don’t become like him. Calm down. Hannes has gotten justice, your old man’s in prison. For once the justice system did right.”

“I wanna kill something.” I muttered.

“Wanna kill some Templar scum?”

“Yeah… I think I’ll stab some Templars in the fucking face.” I got up, rinsed my plate and put it in the dishwasher before heading over to the _PS3_ and starting a new file in _Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood._ Levi and I took turns playing as we liked with games like this that didn’t offer any sort of co-op play and soon enough, the anger ebbed away.

* * *

“What do you _mean_ you don’t have anymore?!” A sudden raised voice tore me away from my _PS3_ alphabetization and I turned to look at the scene unfolding at the cash wrap. Today I was working with Ymir and Levi, but Levi was taking his break—even though he could technically smoke his electric cigarettes inside, he still liked the fresh air, or so he said. I decided to continue my task, but made it a point to listen in on the issue in case it escalated further.

“I _mean_ we don’t have any more special editions.” Ymir replied tersely, “Besides, see here? Your preorder receipt says you preordered the regular edition.”

“No I didn’t! I specifically asked for the special! I wanted the extras! _Why wouldn’t I want them_!?”

“Look, I’m really sorry. I am… it appears there was a misunderstanding when you initially preordered this game. To err is human, after all.” I could hear the shrug in her voice.

“Do you think this is a JOKE? You’re not even taking this seriously!”

“It’s—it’s just a game—”

“JUST A— _JUST A GAME_? NO. YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. THIS IS MY _LIFE._ ” And that was my cue. Discreetly, I got up and made eye-contact with Ymir, who nodded subtly in reply. We’d probably need Levi to step in on this one. I ambled into the backroom and crossed it, towards the propped open exit door and poked my head out.

“Let me guess…” Levi sighed, taking a drag, “Damage control?”

“Yeah… someone with a poor grasp on reality. Though… it does sound like someone on our end fucked up, too.” I answered.

“You know what the hardest thing about getting used to these is?” He said effectively changing the subject, holding the plastic cigarette towards me, “I’ve almost dropped it to crush it under my heel like five times.” I laughed at that before leaning over to steal a peck on his cheek.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve managed to catch yourself.”

“The taste is a little off, too… but it gets the job done.” He added, putting it away in its charge case and re-entered the back room with me. Before he made it to the other door, though, I tugged on one of his belt loops. “Eren…” he warned.

“Just a little kiss?” I asked, giving him my best puppy face.

“No. Not on the clock.” He yanked away from me, but flashed me a look that promised _things_ for later and I grinned in spite of his refusal. He shook his head and I swore I saw him smirk and heard him faintly mutter something about me being an insufferable brat under his breath before heading over to assess Ymir’s situation. Of course, I hurried out as well to see how it unfolded… well, listen in as I continued my unfinished task.

“Is something wrong?” Levi’s voice was calm; he directed this at the customer.

“Yeah something’s wrong! I asked for the special edition of this game and one of your stupid trained monkeys fucked everything up!”

“I’m sorry but this is a family store. I’m going to need you not to use such strong language while you’re here.” Levi interjected, “I trust Ymir has explained to you that we are out of stock for this item at this time?”

“Listen, I GET it—I’m not expecting you guys to just produce a copy where there is none but—but it’s a matter of _principle._ I should be reimbursed for my time and money.”

“If you want to cancel the preorder and get your money back, I’d be happy to do that for you.”

“That’s not what I _mean._ ” I could practically see Levi’s eyes narrow even though I wasn’t even looking at him.

“By all means, enlighten me.” He sounded like he was getting annoyed.

“Well, I think I should get your employee discount. To make up for this… this _travesty_.”

“Why don’t we make a deal?” I heard computer keys tapping; he was probably doing an inventory search. “I’ll see if I can find a store that has an extra special edition…”

“I don’t want to go to another store.”

“Well, that’s pretty much all I can do, besides giving you your money back.” There was a certain finality in his voice that any sane person would have noticed, but this customer… was out of touch with reality—of this much I was sure.

“Just give me the discount on a regular edition.”

“I can’t.”

“Why—this is _horrendous_ customer service! I’ll have you know I’m a well-known MMO gamer! I’ll tell all my fans and twitter followers to never shop here again. We’ll boycott all your stores!”

“Let me explain it as simply as I can. I cannot give you the employee discount because there is no employee discount on new games… and all PC games are new. There is _no_ way for me to give you a discount because _even if I put in the discount code, the system won’t apply it to a new item._ ”

“I’m going to take this up with corporate!” The customer screeched.

“Be my guest… but before you stomp away in a huff—do you at least want your preorder deposit back?”

“UGH! I can’t believe this. Yes give me my money back. I’m never shopping here again.”

“Thank you _so much_ for your continued patronage.” Something in Levi’s voice told me to look up so I did and I witnessed quite possibly the most terrifying fake smile in the history of fake retail smiles.

The rest of the shift went smoothly after that… at least all two hours that was left of it. Levi sent Ymir home right at close since the store was pretty much recovered. I milled about, straightening shelves and vacuuming while he counted down the drawers and got the deposits together for the morning crew to take to the bank. I was wrapping the vacuum’s cord back up to put it away when Levi spoke.

“Fucking Christ I’m horny.” I stared at him, not knowing what he wanted me to say or _do_ about this… development.

“Well, when we get home you can—”

“Don’t wanna wait that long.”

“Are you suggesting—”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” He regarded me with a dark look in his eyes and I felt my throat dry up. I wanted this… but I _didn’t_ want this.

“Earlier, you said ‘no’ to a little kiss… and the cameras—” I tried again, and he interrupted me once more.

“There’s that one blind spot in the back room, you know… besides, I said _not on the clock_ —we’re off the clock now—and I was just thinking about how badly I want to suck your cock.”

“Yeah, but… _in the store_?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t wondered what it’d be like to have a quickie at work.”

“Well, no, not _really…_ ” I scratched my cheek. “Usually if my fantasies involve a, uh… work setting it’s—well it’s not _this_ job.”

“So… you’ve had office sex fantasies. Perverted brat.”

“Look who’s talking!” I shoved him playfully and he grinned, pulling me into the backroom after putting the deposit away and closing the safe.

“You know full well I’m a horny old man.” He said

“That’s true enough.” I sighed, still somewhat antsy about the whole situation… but I had to admit, the wrongness of it all added a certain something to the atmosphere. I could see the allure—there was just _something_ about the illicitness of this that heightened everything. “Oh, alright; let’s do this.”

Levi pushed me back into the far corner where the camera’s view couldn’t reach and began to press insistent kisses under my ear, nipping and licking his way down my jaw before pressing his lips against mine. I responded in a soft moan, my body reacting to his actions accordingly. We kissed, frenzied and feverish for a while before he pulled back and I let out a light whimper.

“Don’t worry. I’m about to get to the good part.” He licked his lips as he said this, dropping down to his knees in front of me and making quick work of undoing the front of my pants. Skillful fingers drew out my length, folding the pants back so they wouldn’t get in the way and I shivered as his fingertips ghosted over the heated skin in light, fluttery touches. Every so often he’d press a little harder in certain spots he knew made me crave his touch more.

“Levi… please…” I sighed, leaning heavily against the wall as my legs were getting more and more useless. I watched him through my lashes, little pleading sounds bubbling up from my throat when he teased the sensitive head of my dick with a light kiss. My own breathing was heavy and shivers went through me when he finally wrapped his lips around the tip and swirled his tongue around it a few times before pressing it into the slit. “Oh… yes…” I sighed, tilting my head back, hands carding through his black hair, fingers gently gripping his scalp as he took more of me into his mouth.

He pressed the tip of his tongue against the vein, running it back and forth along it, sucking me deeper until his cheeks hollowed; I chanced a glance downwards—the sight was something else entirely and caused a low moan to fall from my lips. Completely absorbed in his task, he’d hum from time to time to tease me with the vibration of his voice as I tried not to buck my hips recklessly into his face.

“F-fuck…” I sighed, “You’re so… good…” to which Levi replied with a pleased-sounding hum. Through the haze of bliss, I managed to whimper out, “You… you should touch yourself too…” and I could feel his lips stretching into as much of a grin as they could around me. Levi drew back, his mouth making a soft, wet ‘pop’ as let go of my length and his eyes found mine. There was a mischievous glint to them, his lips turned up into a smirk, his eyes never leaving mine as he opened his own pants and tugged his erection free, wrapping his hand loosely around the shaft as he began to stroke himself.

“H-hey now… don’t leave me hanging…” I laughed, trying to look innocent—well, as innocent as I could look with my dick hanging out and my assistant manager-slash-boyfriend kneeling between my legs.

“I _do_ like it when you get demanding…” He responded, voice breathy and soft. He kissed the tip, sucking me into his mouth once again, but with a bit more force than before; this ripped a somewhat broken gasp from my lungs as a harsh shiver caused my back to arch. My hands scrabbled at the particle board on the wall behind me as he continued to suck me off with a renewed intensity that left me reeling.

“L-Le…vi…” I choked out, feeling the familiar coiling heat at the pit of my stomach, “M’close…” and Levi responded by increasing his ministrations, the muscles at the back of his throat moving against my dick as he took me as deeply as he could. I cried out, hips trembling as I came and he swallowed all he could before releasing me. I leaned heavily against the wall, gasping for breath as I lazily watched his hand pump his shaft, soft grunts filling the air around us.

“Yeah, that’s it…” I whispered, “Touch yourself for me… I wanna see you come.” He bit his lip and sucked in a breath, his hands squeezing and stroking his erection, his movements becoming jerkier and more frantic the closer he got to release. “Mm, you’re so hard and wet for me… when we get home I might just have to fuck you into the mattress…” I murmured, letting a grin curl the corners up my mouth upwards. He made a sound between a moan and a sob and I knew it wouldn’t be much longer.

“Come for me, Levi… let me see you…” I urged him and he finally let out a soft cry and made a mess on the floor. I let him catch his breath as I tucked myself back into my pants and walked over to the bathroom to grab a handful of paper towels to clean the mess. “Feeling a little better?” I asked, with a small smile and he shook his head and called me an idiot as he grabbed the towels from my hand and cleaned up the floor. In a matter of moments, we were in his car and the store was locked up, alarm set, and no one would be the wiser that anything at all had happened in the backroom but us.

“I do hope you intend to keep your promise of fucking me into the mattress.” Levi muttered and I smiled. I most certainly did, and I said as much in response.

* * *

A few days later, I got up and noticed that Levi wasn’t in our bed. I assumed he’d gotten up earlier and stretched my arms and legs and slowly made my way to the bathroom to start the day. When I shuffled into the kitchen, I glanced at the schedule that was hanging there to affirm that we were both off as I poured myself a mug of coffee and took at seat at the table where he was sitting silently, eyes skimming over the newspaper as he finished his breakfast.

“Hey.” I said and he grunted in reply, but didn’t look up. I didn’t think much of it and stirred sugar into my coffee as I continued, “We’re both off today… did you maybe wanna—I don’t now—go out and do something?”

“It’s cleaning day.”

“I mean, after cleaning.”

“No.”

“Is something wrong?” I looked over the rim of my mug, my brows furrowed in confusion. He seemed more… high strung than usual.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I get that—I do—but if you don’t talk about it, it’ll probably get a lot worse.” I pointed out between gulps. He sighed and put the paper down, regarding me with a withering look.

“What part of ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ do you not understand?”

“Fine, jeez. I just want you to know I’m here for you, but what’s the point if you never wanna fucking talk about things.” I muttered under my breath, finishing the coffee and heading to the sink to wash my cup.

“Stop acting like a brat, Eren.”

“You first, Levi.” I snapped back without really thinking. After the words flew out of my mouth, though, I realized I shouldn’t have said them… too little, too late. Levi glared at me with quiet rage in his eyes, but said nothing at all as he got up and stalked down the hall to the bedroom, the only other indication of his anger coming in the form of a slammed door. I winced at the sound and stood in the kitchen for a long while, stunned at what had just transpired, trying to make heads or tails of it.

Something must’ve happened, obviously. Of that much I was sure… but what? Had I snored all night? Did he not get enough sleep because of it? Maybe I’d even kicked him unconsciously—it’d happened a few times, but he usually just kicked me back. Then it hit me that it might have nothing to do with me, that it had to have been something a hell of a lot more serious. I left the dishes in the sink and ran to the bedroom, trying the knob only to find it locked.

“Oh, c’mon Levi!” I called through the door, “Please talk to me. I’m—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I rattled the door on its hinges a bit, but the only answer I got was a clipped ‘ _just leave me alone_ ’ and what I assumed was the sound of a pillow hitting the door. I leaned on the door, resting my forehead on it, begging him to please just let me in for a few more moments, “At least just let me into the room…” I tried, “You don’t have to talk at all. Just… let me be there for you. You can talk only when you’re ready. I’m sorry—I’m really sorry, okay?”

A few moments passed and I heard the door being unlocked, but he only opened it a few inches and glared at me through the crack.

“No.” He said and shoved the door closed again. I tried to force it open, but he used his full weight to wedge it closed and I eventually gave up, sitting on the carpet with my back pressed against it. Knowing he was still on the other side, I decided to talk, even if he didn’t want to.

“I can’t help but feel like your reaction is a little over-the-top; I only implied that you were also being immature—which, if you look at your current actions—is true.” I was probably shoving my foot further into my mouth, but I continued nonetheless. “I just… you love me, right? So why can’t you trust me? You barely tell me anything and I—I don’t know—I just thought we had a deeper relationship, or something. I mean, I know you’ve always been reserved, but…” I sighed, “I just want to be there for you. I—I want you to depend on me for more than just the good stuff. I know I’m just a stupid kid who probably hasn’t seen quite as much of the world as you have, but…”

“Eren, shut _up._ ” And I could just barely hear it, but there was an edge to his words that told me he was close to crying.

“Just tell me what’s wrong. Let me help you.” I pressed my ear to the door, and I could hear him sobbing—fucking _sobbing_ —on the other side. “For fuck’s sake, at least let me hold you or something… if you’re worried about appearances—”

“I’m going to lose her.” Suddenly it all made sense. His voice wavered, “After I worked so hard, everything’s going to shit.”

I wanted to rip the door off of its frame and go in there and console him. I wanted to hold him and stroke his hair and try to convince him that things would turn out fine in the end, but I felt small and helpless. “Please let me in.” I begged again, unsure of if I meant the room or his heart at this point and decided it was both. A few more moments passed between us, the door muffling the sound of his crying while I waited.

So much for cleaning day…

Eventually he did open the door and I threw my arms around him without a second’s hesitation, holding him close to me. “Listen to me, Levi.” I began, “I know this is hard—probably better than most—so please _let me be there for you._ ” I pulled back, looking down at him; his eyes red and swollen and his cheeks stained with tears. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I’m not sure that I’ll ever be ready.” He took a breath, “This isn’t about trust so much as it is about me being complete shit when it comes to this stuff, for your information. I trust you a fuck ton more than you probably realize.” We moved to the bed, sitting on the edge and he wiped at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

“I’m really sorry for trying to push you, it’s just that—”

“No, I get it. I’ll tell you. May as well.” He sighed. “I got a call this morning from the hospice and I while I hoped it’d be good news, I braced myself for the worst just in case but—but it’s even worse than what I imagined.”

I sat next to him, listening, silently reaching over to lace my fingers in between his in some attempt at being reassuring.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what could be worse than maman dying; honestly I hadn’t thought of there being anything worse myself… but—” he let out a slightly manic-sounding laugh, “would you fucking believe that my father is alive and well?”

“Oh no…” it came out as a reflex.

“I thought for sure he would have ended up dead from alcohol poisoning by now, but no. He’s still kicking and apparently—since my mom didn’t leave anything behind to state otherwise—he gets default power of attorney over me. They called me this morning to tell me that. I’m going to lose her… once a-fucking-gain he’s going to have the last word.”

All I could do was to hold him as another wave of sobbing overtook him, tears pricking the corners of my own eyes. Seeing the man I loved with his heart shattered like this was something nothing could have ever prepared me for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pleasedonthateme.


	16. A Truth I Would Rather Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possible solutions, Eren and Mikasa play Mortal Kombat while catching up, an important meeting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> parts of this chapter heavily influenced by the song "what sarah said," by deathcab for cutie, hence the chapter title. shout out to [shotgunsinlace](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shotgunsinlace/pseuds/shotgunsinlace) for beta'ing this for me, i can't thank you enough! 
> 
> i'm super sorry it took me over a month to do anything with this au... inspiration is a fickle thing. uvu 
> 
> **oh and i want to point out that this chapter does contain a physical fight and homophobic slurs, for anyone who may by triggered by such things. please be safe.**

Only three days have passed since I sat helplessly holding my boyfriend as he cried and I still felt fucking useless. There had to be something I could do to help him, but what? I wracked my brain for ideas whenever I had a moment to myself—home, work, you name it. I was working on _PS2_ bin organization when Hanji’s sing-song voice ripped me from my thoughts.

“Er-en…” she called, rocking on her heels, “What’s on your mind? You’ve been quieter than normal.”

“It’s… nothing.” I said. I shook my head and smiled disarmingly, but I think she saw through it.

“I don’t think so. You’re taking longer than you usually do to finish up the simplest of tasks. Something’s up, so just tell me.”

“It’s not really my story to tell.” I admitted and slumped. I was partly thankful that the store wasn’t busy because I didn’t think I could handle busy spells in my mood, but at the same time I was annoyed with it because it was a good distraction. I sighed.

“You’re worried about Levi’s mother, aren’t you?” Hanji’s words made me turn and face her. I opened and closed my mouth as I stared at her incredulously. “Did you forget Levi’s been my best friend since the dawn of time, pretty much?”

“I didn’t think he’d tell you. He barely wanted to tell me.” I mumble, a little crestfallen.

“Kiddo, don’t you fret. It’s not that he doesn’t trust you. He’s always been shit at human relationships.” She said, “I’ve just perfected my information gathering technique over the years. You’ll probably figure it out, too. I’m rooting for you two—I’ve never seen Levi this committed to someone, like he’s been with you. I really think you’re the one.” She paused, took a breath, and continued, “That aside, a little birdie told me Mike did some pre-law. You should try talking to him, get some advice.”

The rest of the shift went by slowly, though Hanji at least tried to lighten the mood by talking to me about some new show she’d been watching lately—something about a guy who’s a cop but also hunts fairy tale monsters? I’d mentally checked out by then, thinking on what she’d said—imagining scenarios in my head as to how exactly I should run this by Mike. Should I talk to Levi and get _him_ to do so? Mike was _his_ friend, and Erwin’s current squeeze… God, I hoped it wouldn’t sound weird if I asked. I just wasn’t so sure he’d ask directly, and I was pretty sure now that Hanji was just some sort of genius interrogator or something with the way she’d talked about _information gathering techniques._

* * *

“I was thinking…”

“Fuck, stop the presses. Eren Jaeger’s been _thinking._ ” Levi teased, having gone back to his usual self despite his breakdown a mere three days prior. I had to hand it to him, he was really good at masking his feelings. Not that it was a _good_ thing to do, mind you, but it didn’t make it any less impressive.

“Sometimes I wonder why I love you so much.” I teased right back, “You’re a fucking asshole.”

“You’ve answered yourself, brat.” He said with a laugh, “Because I’m fucking your asshole.”

“ _That’s not what I said._ ” I cried and shoved him playfully.

“Close enough.” He shoved me back. “Anyway, what’s up?”

“First of all, I’m gonna apologize in advance—”

“Oh, here we go…”

“—because this might make some painful shit resurface… and I’m not trying to point fingers, so don’t think that, but I’ve noticed that you sort of seem like you’re… avoiding the issue. I mean, it’s been three days and—”

“I’m dealing with the reality of it.” His tone was clipped; I had hit a nerve. _Goddamnit_. I wasn’t trying to start a fight… I sighed.

“You’re not talking to me about it.” I pointed out.

“There’s nothing else to say about it.” He replied.

“Are you sure? Do you know anyone who could, I don’t know… give us some legal advice on the matter? I mean, I remember reading somewhere that you can appeal stuff like this… if the default party isn’t of sound mind or whatever. From what you’ve told me about your… father, he’s definitely not.” I kept talking; I figured that if I stopped, he’d come up with some excuse or something so we could change the topic and I wasn’t about to let him. “I mean, we might still have a chance to save her. Don’t you want to save your moth—your _maman_?” I used his word for her and watched him sit a little straighter. He narrowed his eyes and shot me a look.

“Eren, do you really think I’ve got the wherewithal to even begin to afford the legal fees—I’m the assistant manager of a fucking videogame store. _Do you really think I haven’t given this some thought?_ ” He stood abruptly, angrily slamming a _PS3_ controller down on the couch; I winced. I fucked up. I fucked up bad.

“I’m just—I’m just trying to help…” I whimpered pathetically as I sunk into myself, trying to make myself as small as I felt. He let out an exasperated sigh, ran his hands through his short, black hair.

“I know. I’m just—this is really fucking hard. I know your heart’s in the right place, Eren. I really do. I just…” He trailed off and I glanced up at him hesitantly. My heart sank; he looked like he was about to cry again and I felt totally responsible. He’d finally managed to get that mask back into place and here I was ripping it off and forcing him back into the harsh reality his life had become… I’d always been the sort to face problems head on. I’d failed to notice that my way isn’t always the only way.

“Can’t we just—I don’t know—get some free consultation or something..?” I tried. I was sick of being useless, of being helpless. I stared at my hands, unable to look at him in case he did start crying again. Unable to handle my heart breaking for him, of knowing the pain of losing _my_ mother and not wanting him to go through it.

“She’s been stuck like that for so long. Maybe it’s time I let go… maybe it’s a sign. Maybe it’s time for me to let her pass on. She’s probably in pain.” His voice trembled and I felt tears forming in my eyes. “She’s probably suffering like that and all this time I’ve been too selfish, trying to hold out. Even the doctors have said there’s next to no hope of her waking up. And even if she did, they speculate she wouldn’t even remember me.” His voice was shaking, growing ever quieter and I knew he was trying to hold back sobs. “I—I don’t think I could handle that, actually.”

I stood and grabbed him, wrapped my arms tightly around his body, cradled his head and whispered through my tears, “I’ll support whatever you decide.” I couldn’t blame him—not in the slightest. He was probably right. It’d be better for him in the long run if he could remember those happy times he kept so dear. “I love you, Levi. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone.” I added, squeezing him to me. His frame shook in my arms and I could hear his soft crying—I could feel his tears as they fell on my skin, but I didn’t feel half as worthless.

“Eren I—thank you.” He mumbled against my neck, hugging back.

* * *

I was thankful to have a day off after two painful heart-to-hearts in such quick succession, because even though Levi was an expert when it came to hiding his emotions, I wasn’t as much… and what better way to let off steam than by playing fighting games?

I logged into my _PSN_ account and noticed Mikasa’s ID was marked as online, so I grabbed my headset and sent her an invitation to play some Mortal Kombat with me despite knowing she’d win every match. It was as good an excuse as any to talk to her, too… it felt like eons since we’d last spoken.

“Eren… are you sure you want to play a fighting game against me?” Her clear voice came through my headset.

“Oh, hey Mikasa, I missed you too. Thanks for asking.” I joked, “Life’s been kinda hectic and at this point I don’t really care if I win or lose.”

“You need to talk to me about something?” Her voice took on a concerned tone.

“I’ve had enough talking about it, to be honest. I just kinda want to mash buttons and virtually get my ass kicked…” I said, “I saw you online and it hit me how long it’s been since we talked last and I just wanted to check in with you.”

“Oh, well. I’m doing alright. You know, all this time I thought Annie was dating that tall kid, Bert…” I silently thanked Mikasa for not pressing the matter as she continued, “Turns out Bert’s with Reiner—the blond, wasn’t sure if you knew his name.”

“Wait, are you interested in Annie? I thought you weren’t into… relationships.” We kept chatting while setting up the match, choosing our characters and beginning the first versus match. I mashed the buttons without much of a strategy—for me it’s always been push every button and see what happens. Sure, it meant that I’d spam an attack more often than not, but there was just something therapeutic about fighting games, even if I sucked at them more than I did at shooters.

Mikasa’s character attacked, hopped back to dodge my predictable attacks, swept mine off his feet as she unleashed a barrage of advanced attacks, large chunks of my HP bar disappearing.

“I’m not interested in _sex._ ” Mikasa corrected, “I still want someone to _be_ with.”

“Oh, right.” I attempted to figure out button combinations to no avail as Mikasa’s character did a finishing move and ripped mine’s spine out, bloody letters announcing my defeat appearing on the screen. “Wanna go again?”

“If you want to, sure. And to answer your question, yeah, I guess. I mean, I like Annie. She’s fun to talk to and be around. I like watching terrible movies with her, making fun of the awful dialogue and overused tropes.”

“You should ask her, then.”

“Yeah, probably.” We did a few more rounds, Mikasa beating me every time, but I had to admit, it put me at ease to know she was doing well and might even have a girlfriend.

After the fifth match, I conceded defeat.

“Well, I should probably do something besides play games all afternoon.” I said, “It was nice to hear you. Let’s go get some coffee or something soon.”

“Good idea. I should make sure you’re not getting into trouble without me around.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Hey!” I laughed, “I’ve been doing good on my own!”

“I guess you have. Don’t be a stranger, Eren.” She agreed, and ended the chat.

* * *

“Hey wake up.” Levi’s voice drifted into my consciousness as I blinked my eyes open.

“What time is it..?” I groaned, wiping sleep from my eyes.

“Eight in the morning… c’mon.” He yanked the covers back from me and I yelped.

“Where are we going?”

“You should meet her. Before the shit hits the fan.” He said, and I was suddenly awake. “It hit me that this isn’t something we can put off.” I nodded, climbing out of bed to get ready.

A quick shower and a tooth brushing later, I was pulling my pants on and tugging a shirt over my head, sitting only to tie my shoes.

Levi locked up the apartment and we got into his car and began driving towards the hospice, stopping for breakfast on the way—and I noted that this was possibly the only time I’d be allowed to eat anything while in his car, so I made sure I was extremely careful not to get any crumbs on anything. We got there and made our way inside.

“Good morning, Mr. Levi.” The receptionist chirped, “She’s waiting for you like always.”

“Ah, thanks.” He nodded to her, lacing his fingers through mine as he pulled me after him. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. We walked down the brightly lit hallway and he stopped in front of a door; _Marie Petit_ was written on the placard next to it. “One day I’ll show you photos so you can see her how I see her in my memories…” He said quietly, opening the door and ushering me inside.

The room was silent save for the beeping and humming of the machines that kept her alive. I walked slowly towards the bed, my breath catching in my throat as memories of seeing my own mother in a similar situation flooded my mind, causing me to nearly lose my balance, but I caught myself. She looked frail, but peaceful, and I could see he wasn’t lying when he said he favored her. If it hadn’t been for all of the wires and tubes, I would have thought she was just sleeping.

“Hi.” I whispered, even though she probably couldn’t hear me. Levi peered around me.

“Maman, this is Eren. He’s the love of my life.” He draped his arm around me, pulling me close to him. “I wanted you to meet the man that’s made me so happy lately.”

I stood there, fighting back tears as he continued to tell his comatose mother about me—about how we’d met and how much he loved my eyes and my smile… I felt like he wasn’t only telling her, but that he wanted to make sure I knew all these things and it made my chest swell with joy.

When he was finished, I looked at him, my eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Ms. Petit, your son… is quite possibly the most loving and caring person I’ve ever met and I feel like I should thank you for raising such a wonderful man. He’s been there for me in every way a person can be and then some… ” I clasped my hands in his. “And he’s beautiful, just like his mother.” I leaned in and kissed him softly. He smiled.

We pulled up chairs and I listened to him read to her about the adventures of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, recalling my own childhood when my mother read to me about mermaids in millponds, giants and beanstalks, and the like. His smooth baritone was relaxing to listen to as it formed the words of the classic tales and I found myself thinking that Levi would probably be a pretty good father.

He read to her for a couple of hours before we decided to call it a day and headed back to the entrance. We waved at the receptionist and exited the building.

Walking towards Levi’s car, he suddenly stopped. I looked at him, confused.

“What’s—” I started, following his gaze to see another car parked a few spaces away, its driver stepping out.

“We need to leave. _Now._ ”

“Why? Is that—is that your—” I craned my head to try to get a good look at the man who’d gotten out of the car, but Levi grabbed my hand and roughly yanked me towards his car.

“ _Yes._ ” He hissed, “We need to go.”

“Well, if it isn’t my good-for-nothing son.” The man—James, now that I knew who he was—called. “I wondered if I’d ever see you again.” And despite his earlier insistence to leave, to get out of there, Levi stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.

“You’d know all about being good-for-nothing, wouldn’t you?” He snapped, his voice cold and angry. I could only stand there and watch; I had no idea what to do. “You worthless piece of shit… you should have stayed gone.”

“That’s no way to talk to your father.” James sneered, closing the distance between them.

I made my way to Levi, grabbing one of his hands with mine, tugging it insistently. “Hey, Levi, we should go…” I urged him quietly.

“Who’s the kid? Did you go and knock some bitch up?” James asked.

“If you must know, he’s my boyfriend.” Levi answered tersely, squaring his shoulders.

This was bad… this was _bad._

“Levi, remember all the things you learned in anger management…” I whispered, tugging his hand.

“ _Boyfriend?_ I didn’t raise a faggot.”

“Correction: you didn’t raise me at all.” Levi spat back.

“ _What did you just say?_ ”

“Oh, can’t you hear me in your old age? I said you were a worthless piece of shit that doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘father.’”

I whimpered helplessly, unable to do anything but watch the scene unfolding before me. Their display reminded me of two tomcats hissing and yowling at each other.

With a quickness I hadn’t expected from the old man, James threw a punch at Levi’s head, but he’d evidently been anticipating it and managed to block it. Levi took a defensive stance and I decided it’d be in my best interest to put as much distance between the two of them and myself as possible, so I circled the front end of the Integra and stood on the other side of it.

James threw another jab, which Levi ducked to avoid easily and I remembered that he’d told me he had taken martial arts for this very reason. James lunged again; his fist grazed Levi’s cheek, but didn’t do any substantial damage. Levi hadn’t thrown any punches back, opting only to block and defend, and I realized that despite being provoked, he hadn’t hit back a single time. This was it. This was going to be the proof that James Kimura was unfit for the power of attorney, and I finally knew what I had to do. I ran back into the hospice.

“Excuse me!” I called out breathlessly to the receptionist, “Call the police. Levi’s being attacked.”

Even if Levi ultimately chose to let his mother rest, I wanted it to be _his_ choice and not anyone else’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please note that i am in no way a doctor and i don't know the first thing about comas or brain trauma. i'm also not a lawyer, so i'm not sure exactly the process of appealing or if you even need to hire a lawyer with what's happening at this point so uh. suspend your belief if it's _too_ farfetched, ahaha.
> 
> oh and [feel free to follow me on tumblr.](http://kiokushitaka.tumblr.com/)


	17. All I Need To Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I don't know which way the wind will blow, but you're here with me... and that's all I need to know._ — Thousand Foot Krutch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this fic, I didn’t think anyone would care to read it, really. There’s a lot of wonderful fics out there to choose from, by much more capable authors than I… but I wrote it anyway. I wrote it because I had an idea, and I wanted to put it out there and because I met my husband working at a game store (a popular one, I’m sure everyone knows which one I mean)… much to my surprise, people liked it. I adore each and every one of you who left me a kudo, who took time out of their day to leave me a little comment, who has reached out to tell me in some way or another that you liked this fluffy romance story. 
> 
> I want to thank J.R. for being my beta for the first few chapters, for providing me with his knowledge and experience regarding COD and for being one of the people who helped nudge me to write this. 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who’s recommended this fic to others, everyone who’s bookmarked or subscribed to it, and I want to thank everyone who at least was interested enough in the summary to make that hit counter go up. 
> 
> I want to thank [shotgunsinlace](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shotgunsinlace) for advice and encouragement, I’m still utterly floored that we’ve become friends so quickly and I think you’re light-years better than me in terms of writing and it means a fuckton that you like my work. 
> 
> I don’t usually finish multi-part stories, I have a short attention span and tend to lose interest halfway through, but I somehow managed this time, and I’m really proud of myself. 
> 
> That being said, yes. This is the final chapter of this story. I want to make a few things clear; I don’t tie up every loose end. I don’t go into details on the side romances that were mentioned because it’s not necessary. I wanted this to feel natural, and when people recount something that happened in their life, they tend to focus on themselves and I feel like Eren did that. I don’t think it’s important to tie up every single loose end because that doesn’t happen in real life. 
> 
> In any case, do enjoy this, the final installment of _The Customer is Almost Always Wrong_. It’s been really fun… and don’t worry, you haven’t seen the last of me.
> 
> On a slightly unrelated note, if you like Erwin, Levi and Eren as an ot3, please check out [EruRiRen Events](http://erurirenevents.tumblr.com/) at tumblr. c:

Levi and James were still fighting by the time the police arrived.

Fighting’s probably not a good word for it, though—Levi wasn’t retaliating at all, merely avoiding getting hit. The receptionist and I watched in silence from the drop-off area as one officer got in between them and another physically restrained James.

Levi cooperated as soon as they intervened; I could see that he was answering their questions and speaking with them, though I was too far to hear what they were saying. He glanced towards me and when his eyes met mine I jogged over to him.

“Can we get a statement from you as well?” The officer asked me and I nodded mutely. “What happened?”

“We were just walking to the car…” I began, unsure of how detailed I should be. I looked over at Levi, searching for an answer, but found none so I just continued to the best of my knowledge. I decided it’d be good to inform the officer that I knew who the man was in relation to Levi, that the attack had begun as a verbal one before any punches had been thrown. I made sure to stress that James had thrown the first punch, that Levi had actually not thrown any punches back, that he’d only been defending himself the entire time.

They made me repeat myself two more times and I wondered if this was standard protocol, but thought nothing of it. I didn’t have any reason to lie and I just assumed they were making sure my story didn’t change, that it matched up with Levi’s account.

The long and the short of it was… both Levi and James ended up having to spend time in jail. As it turns out, merely participating in a fight—even if you’re just defending yourself—is still considered disorderly conduct. They kept Levi in a holding cell while I got a hold of both Erwin and Hanji to see if we could make bail. The police explained that this was to discourage any future violent behavior. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I managed not to through sheer force of will, putting on my fake smile and nodding as if I agreed with them.

James, on the other hand, ended up having to spend a few days in jail for assault and had no one to bail him out; can’t say I pitied the fucker at all. From what I remember, he also ended up under house arrest pending a hearing… and because he was unable to fulfill the necessary duties associated with Marie’s needs, it was up to Levi once again. I wondered if he’d go through with the decision to let her rest, but decided against bringing it up—he’d talk about it when he was ready to. Right now, we just needed to get this mess behind us and move on. We needed to hope that Levi was never within striking distance of James ever again.

* * *

“I wonder if Mike could draw up some restraining orders…” Hanji commented, “Maybe for both you and your mother.”

It’d been a few days, and we were both back at work. Hanji wasn’t working, rather, she had decided to come in and chat with us as she bought a few of the games she’d put in the employee hold.

“It’s something to think about.” Levi replied as he rang her up.

I listened in on their conversation from the back counter while I processed a tall stack of trade-ins. I could tell he didn’t really want to talk about it yet… and evidently, so did Hanji, because she shifted the topic of conversation entirely.

“Ah, I’m excited to finally be getting some of these games—I’ve been waiting to play _Tales of Xillia._ ”

“I’m not surprised; you’ve always liked that franchise.”

“How can you not like Namco’s _Tales_ series after masterpieces like _Symphonia_ and _Abyss_?” Hanji cried, making wild gestures and leaning a little too close over the counter.

“Hey, shit for brains. I never said anything like that.” Levi replied in an annoyed tone, but one glance at him and I could see he was thankful for the normalcy, thankful that Hanji was making an effort to help get things back to where they had been before shit started hitting the fan. He was glad that she was his friend, that they’d stuck together this long and it made me happy, in turn.

I let them continue their lighthearted banter as I finished up all the trades on the counter and moved on to my next task.

The shift was slow, but in a comfortable way. It’s funny how much you crave the mundane when your world gets turned upside-down… even just a little bit.

* * *

“We should also talk to Mike about preventing this from happening again.” I said a few nights later; I probably shouldn’t have brought it up… we were sitting on the couch in our apartment watching TV but not really paying attention as a local news anchor talked about the latest story.

“I’ve talked to him about it before.”

“Oh. So I guess that means there’s nothing he can really do, huh?”

“She never had a living will, and we can’t draft one where she’s not conscious to sign it.” Levi replied, “And the last thing I need is years of litigation and fighting with my father over what to do with her.”

“Ah, but because he’s not of sound mind he can’t make any decisions either…”

“Basically...” Levi sighs, “Either way, I’ve already decided that it’s time for me to let her go.” I nodded, not really sure of how to comfort him. “Sometimes the only way to keep moving forward is to leave the dead and dying behind.”

“That seems a little… harsh.”

“A little cold, I suppose… but what good is it to cling to lifeless bodies that will only slow us down?”

“I guess that makes sense.” I admitted. We sat and watched the television absently for a while longer, chatting intermittently about whatever was on the screen.

Admittedly, all this… upheaval had really made me think about the future. About what I wanted to do with my life and while I knew I wanted Levi to be there with me, I wasn’t sure about anything else. Surely, I wouldn’t work a shitty part-time retail job forever…

“How long do you think you’ll work at Game n’ Go?” I asked, suddenly. He opened his mouth to speak, but paused and said nothing for a moment.

“I… don’t really know.” He said, finally. I hummed absently, leaning into his heat. My head rested on his shoulder.

“I always hated it when dad asked me ‘what do you see yourself doing in five—ten years.’” I muttered, “I’m no good at thinking on the hypothetical.”

“I just—my hopes have been shattered a lot, so I don’t dwell on the what ifs if I don’t have to.”

“Well, whatever happens, I want you to be there with me.” I added quietly.

His fingers threaded through my hair and he scratched at my scalp lightly; it felt nice, so I leaned into it as a soft sound of contentment left me in an exhale. I heard him chuckle.

“You’re such a sap.”

“As if you don’t find it endearing as hell.” I elbowed him playfully.

“Guilty as charged.” He whispered, coaxing my head up so he could lean down and kiss me softly.

I knew that I wanted to spend my life with this man, that I would fight tooth and nail to see him happy and that he’d do the same for me. I’d known for a while, but there was just something so—so _profound_ about the thought that it was almost like I was realizing it all over again.

“I want to kiss you forever.” I mumbled between kisses, moving so that I was straddling him. I leaned in for another, slanting our lips together softly, attempting to show him just how much I loved him in that simple action. His arms circled my waist as he kissed me back, his lips soft under mine, his fingers kneading into the small of my back. We kissed like this for several moments—slowly, deeply.

I pulled back, looking into his eyes for several moments, my hands massaging his shoulders lazily.

“We should get married.” The words slipped out of my mouth without me really thinking about them until after the fact and I felt my face flush as soon as I realized what I’d said.

An incredibly awkward silence settled and my mind started reeling. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!!_ I should write a book about idiotic things to say, it’d be a _best seller._ My face was burning so much I practically wished it would literally catch on fire.

I’d been so busy berating myself that wasn’t even paying attention to Levi’s reaction, but rather, what I thought his reaction would be… until he rested his forehead against mine, our noses brushing slightly.

“You’re a fucking stupid shit nine times out of ten, you know?” his voice was amused, despite the harsh choice of words and I knew he was smiling without having to look; I relaxed. “Yeah, we probably should. Someday.”

His answer was soft, like the kisses that followed.


End file.
